Sincerely, Prometheus : The Lightning Thief
by Adventure Awaits
Summary: When Percy leaves for a suicide quest, Annabeth is left at camp. She enters his cabin searching for anything to cure her boredom. Deep inside his belongings she finds a leather bound book. On the cover is a drawn picture of a yellow zig-zag. A lightning bolt. CHAPTER TWELVE ONE SENTENCE PREVIEW: "I don't think Chiron would just randomly poo-ahem, excrete internal waste like that."
1. Westbound again

Worry. That was the first thing she saw when Annabeth searched his eyes. His green eyes blinked and turned away from her gaze. They had been so stress-free ever since the second Titan war ended. They deserved to have peace now; after all they'd been through. This bugged Annabeth. It just wasn't fair. She sighed and attempted to confront Percy.

"Is there something wrong?" She startled him. Percy sat up and leaned against the tree that Thalia Grace once occupied. His brows furrowed together. He was hiding something from Annabeth and this was _not_ the time he'd planned to tell her. Her grey eyes analyzed him, waiting for a response.

"No, it's nothing", Percy lied. Annabeth shot him a quizzical look. She'd known Percy for a long time now and she knew when something was bugging him.

"Percy…"She trailed, trying to get it out of him. He shook his head and gave a fake smile. He knew she was still unconvinced. "Percy, I'm your girlfriend, you can tell me anything. I thought we weren't supposed to keep secrets from each other."

Annabeth was right… as usual. Percy accepted that and decided to spill his thoughts.

"Well, last night I, um. I got contacted."

"By?"

"Alecto."

Annabeth grimaced. She and Percy had no love for the Lord of the Dead's Minions. Let's just say that they had bad experiences with Hades and his 'pets'.

"What did she want?"

"Me. She said that there have been difficulties in the Underworld. Souls are missing. Someone cheated death and is apparently resurrecting others."

"Why can't Hades handle that? I mean, he _is_ Lord of the Dead."

"I asked the same thing. Two reasons. Number one: Zeus called Hades to Olympus for reasons that Alecto has decided not to share. Number two: Alecto thinks I've got something to do with it."

"Haters gonna hate."

"Yeah."

"Did you already work it out with Chiron?"

"He already knows. He's letting me bring Mrs. O'Leary along, too."

"Do you know what we are doing? Did you get a Prophecy?"

"Yeah, it goes like this._ A child of the sea travels westbound. To find and enter the land underground. The Dark Lord's three shall provide for thee. And sends away the son of the sea. Thou shall find the band that defiles Death God. And lose a friend to death and fraud. Thou shall be harbored in rock and darkness. And to lose all hope while weak and lifeless."_

"…well, on the bright side you…you, um…hmm. Okay, let's just try to translate. First line, a child of the sea travels westbound."

" Easy, I go west."

"To find and enter the land underground."

"I enter the Underworld."

"The Dark Lord's three shall provide for thee."

"The Dark Lord must be Hades and his three are the Kindly ones."

"And sends away the son of the sea."

"Uh, they… send me away?"

"I guess it'll make sense after we finish the quest. Thou shall find the band that defiles Death God."

"I find the scumbag who's been resurrecting peeps."

"And lose a friend to death and fraud."

Percy froze. His mind reeled in all the possibilities. Just one made sense in his mind. "You don't think…"

In Annabeth's mind she calculated that if she went with Percy on the quest, surely she would die.

"Skip it, what's next?" said Percy.

"Thou shall be harbored in rock and darkness."

He hesitated. "Let's just stop. I've already packed, anyway."

Before Annabeth could do anything, Percy blew a dark grey dog whistle. Seconds later a huge black mastiff bounded out of the nearby trees. She circled and nuzzled Percy. Annabeth laughed then remembered that she needed to pack, too.

"Hold on, Perce. Let me go pack real quick", she reassured.

"Wait! Annabeth!"

Annabeth stopped and turned around, "What?"

"Um…Alecto said to come without….human company."

Annabeth's spirits fell. She lowered her gaze, a little embarrassed.

"Hey, are you okay", Percy took her shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just that we usually do things like this together, so I thought…"

"Hey", Percy smiled, "I promise not to do anything reckless."

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Seaweed Brain", she smiled back. "Have everything?"

He nodded," Yep."

" Iris message me tonight, if you're not in public, 'kay?"

"Yes, mother. Don't I get a kiss for luck? It's sort of tradition."

Annabeth flushed crimson, but she still reached forward and put her arms around his neck, pressing her lips to his softly. When they pulled away, Annabeth pulled out something from her back pocket.

"I want you to have this, just in case. But I want it back when you return. Use it wisely." She placed a dark blue Yankees cap in Percy's hands. He smiled and hugged her in return.

" Thanks Wise Girl. I guess this is it." He climbed onto Mrs. O'Leary's back. She barked, signaling that she was ready.

"I'll see you soon Seaweed Brain!" she called.

"What if I don't make it?" he called back.

"I SAID I'll see you soon. Promise me you'll come back in one piece."

Percy crossed his heart and held out his pinky." I promise."

"Good luck!" With that, the mastiff jumped into a tree and disappeared in a flash of black and purple darkness.


	2. Stealing from Percy

**Chapter two: The Lightning Thief**

**Hello mah peeps. I will not be writing Percy's quest, if you were wondering. So as a treat I will give you permission to write it. Like based on the prophecy I want you to write whatever you want to happen on the quest. You don't have to write it, I'm just giving you permission. If you want me to read yours just PM me and maybe I'll give you a shout out. ~**

Annabeth trudged back to camp with an odd mixture of sadness and longing. Songing. She didn't know what to do now. This hour was for free time. Next hour she would go to archery with Chiron. She wondered where Thalia and The Hunters had dropped in yesterday for a surprise visit. She glanced at the horseshoe shaped row of cabins. A smile tugged at her lips as she approached cabin 3. She pushed open the door and walked in, examining its messy composure. Out of boredom, she rifled through his belongings to find anything interesting. She found various items; a Minotaur horn, sand dollars, Drachmas, a Poseidon Mythomagic figurine, pictures of Annabeth, a bag of sugar cubes, pictures of Sally Jackson and a leather bound book. A leather bound book? She flipped it so that the cover was facing her. On the front was a drawn picture of a yellow zigzag taped to the leather. A lightning bolt. She flipped through the book. All of the pages were filled with black ink writing.

"_Percy's diary?"_ she wondered. She took a closer look at the cover and saw the words "The Lightning Thief". She racked her brain trying to remember any memory connected to this.

"_Of course, The lightning thief", _she remembered her first quest with Percy to retrieve Zeus's master bolt.

"_Well, since he's not here, I could just…_" She placed the book in her hands and left the cabin. She scanned the camp, intent of finding Thalia. Where could she be!? Almost out of hope, she ran to cabin 13, the Hades cabin. She knocked and waited. Soon enough a drowsy Nico Di Angelo answered.

"What?" He barked.

"Good morning to you, too. Do you know where Thalia is?" Annabeth asked.

"No, why?" he responded with a raised eyebrow.

"Because I found this", she showed him the book. "In Percy's cabin."

Nico's eyes widened. "His diary?!"

"No! Well, sort of."

"Whatever, let me get dressed. Wait here!" With that he slammed the door in Annabeth's face. He came back seconds later.

"How did you …"

"Don't ask. And don't tell anyone about my rapid fast changing skills either. Okay, you go find Thalia and I'll go find some other people who would want to read this gold mine. Meet me at the big house." Nico ran off to the Hermes cabin while Annabeth went to Artemis's honorary cabin.

* * *

Annabeth and Thalia arrived at the big house first. They sat down in the rec room that the camp used for war meetings. Minutes later the door flew open. Nico and some other peeps flooded in. The all sat around the Ping-Pong table.

"Is this really Percy's diary", one called out.

"Wait, Percy? As in Percy Jackson?"

"Let's read dis muthahtruckah!"

"What's it called?"

Thalia gripped the book and held it out. "The Lightning Thief."

Suddenly, the yellow zigzag on the cover began to emit a strange yellow glow. It got brighter and brighter. The book got hot in Thalia's hands. Soon it got unbearable. She yelped and let go of it. It spun towards the floor and landed cover side up. Right when it hit the ground, the whole room turned white. Everyone blacked out. When they opened their eyes, they found themselves in the throne room of Olympus. Right in the middle of the throne room. The gods stared down at the lot in bewilderment, they took out various weapons. Zeus with his master bolt, Hera with a golden gladius, Poseidon with his trident, Hades with a stygian two-pronged fork, Athena with a golden lance, Demeter with a box of corn flakes, Hestia just continued stoking her fire, Apollo with a golden bow, Artemis with a silver bow, Ares with a spear, Hephaestus with a fiery hammer, Hermes with a caduceus, Dionysus was asleep and Aphrodite had her Gucci hand bag twirling in the air.

"Um…what's going on? Who are you guys?" asked Hermes. The Stolls shot him a questioning look.

"Excuse me? I take that to offense", said Conner.

"You don't remember us?" Katie inquired.

"I know you… all of you. But when you were younger. Like twelve years old", Athena reassured. "Dionysus should know."

"Wha-what!" Mr.D almost fell off his throne. He scanned the room. "What are these brats doing here?"

"You know them, right?" Athena asked.

"Of course I do. I've had to live with them for a while now."

Zeus scanned the children. Among the lot he found his daughter. His flesh and blood daughter, not his wood and bark daughter. He almost did a victory dance at this. "Wait a sec. how are you not a tree?" he questioned his daughter.

She smiled at him and replied, "It's a long story."

"Well, I believe that most of us have our children standing presently. The exception of Hera, Poseidon, Artemis, Hephaestus, Hestia and Dionysus", Zeus announced.

"Wait, my son should be here. I told his mother to escort him to the camp, I don't know if she did yet", Poseidon argued.

"Percy did make it to camp. He's just on a quest right now", Annabeth assured.

"Oh good, I thought he was de-deeeeeeaaaaaa-deeeeeaaaaa- "

"Dead? Well he could die, since he's on a quest. Quests are _quite_ dangerous", Hades offered.

"Well that's relieving", Poseidon glared." What's that book over there?" he pointed at the black object near their feet. Annabeth walked over and picked it up. Except this time there was a grey sticky note attached to the front.

"There's a note attached. It says '_Dear Olympians, for what it's worth you deserve to know that our previous encounter has been accepted and forgiven. Consider this as a peace treaty. Another bridge to knowledge. Never stop seeking for knowledge no matter how high of a level you have achieved. Sincerely, Prometheus."_


	3. How to vaporize a math teacher

**Chapter Three: I accidentally vaporize my pre-algebra teacher**

"Prometheus? Who is he to believe that we have forgotten of the war? I suppose he finally swallowed his pride and aimed for our forgiveness", Athena scoffed, "Anyway who's starting the book?"

"I will", Annabeth sighed. She picked up the book as the demigods sat on the floor beside her. The others, being Thalia Grace, Nico Di Angelo, Clarisse La Rue, Katie Gardner, Travis Stoll, Conner Stoll, Jason Grace, Piper McLean and Leo Valdez.

**I accidentally vaporize my pre-algebra teacher.**

"I know Percy hates math, but not this much", Nico commented. The others nodded in approval.

**Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood.**

"Can't argue with you there", Thalia agreed.

**If you're reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is: close this book right now.**

"No way Percy! We want to explore your miiiiiiiiind", Conner smiled. Artemis cringed.

"I still can't accept the fact that we're reading a _boy_'s thoughts."

"You'll live, sis", Apollo patted her back.

"Don't call me sis!"

"Sorry sis."

Artemis pulled out a gleaming silver hunting knife and closely examined her reflection in the metal. Apollo's eyes widened with fear. He quickly Apollo-gized (hehe, see what I did there? Yeah, you're right, it's lame)

**Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth and try to lead a normal life.**

"Wait, Annabeth, how were you born?" Leo asked, "Were you born out of your dad's head or did you come out of Athena's …um, out of her …you know."

Athena glared at him and threw "The Sorcerer's Stone" at Leo's head.

**Being a half-blood is dangerous. It's scary.**

"Just like your mother", Leo told Annabeth. Athena chucked "The Chamber of Secrets" at Leo's, uh, at Leo's …doorbell.

**Most of the time it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways.**

''Yeah, like being pelted with Harry Potter books by a psycho wisdom goddess", Leo muttered.

"What was that, Valdez?"

"Nothing!"

**If you're a normal kid, reading this because you think its fiction, great. Read on. I envy you for being able to believe that none of this ever happened.**

"I wish."

**But if you recognize yourself in these pages- if you feel something stirring inside- stop reading immediately. You might be one of us. And once you know that, it's only a matter of time before they come for you.**

"Who are _they_? Oh, never mind. I just realized how dumb that sounded", said Connor. Earning a slap from Katie. Meanwhile, Athena chucked 'The Sorcerer's Stone' at Leo. He yelped in pain.

"What?! I didn't even say anything stupid!" he complained.

"Yeah, but you were thinking something stupid!" Athena countered. Leo stopped for a second in thought.

"True dat."

Another copy of 'The Sorcerer's stone' sailed across the room and met Leo's face.

**Don't say I didn't warn you. My name is Percy Jackson.**

"Hi, Percy. My name is Le-Ow! Quit that, Athena!"

**I'm twelve years old.**

"Eww. Annabeth, you're dating a twelve year old? Sick", Travis smirked. Athena sat up.

"What was that Travis? Who's my daughter dating?"

"Per-Ow! I mean, uh, nobody milady."

Athena didn't look convinced.

**Until a few months ago, I was a boarding student at Yancy Academy, a private school for troubled kids in upstate New York.**

"You should join, Conner."

"Shut up."

**Am I a troubled kid?**

"Yeah you are!" shouted everyone who knew Percy.

"Hah! Poseidon's got a thing for making those kinds of kids", Zeus cackled. Poseidon glared. If looks could kill, the all-powerful, immortal god of thunder would be lying on the floor, motionless. "Isn't that right, Percy?" Zeus asked the book.

**Yeah. You could say that.**

The gods burst into laughter while Poseidon steamed.

**I could start at any point in my miserable life to prove it,**

Another round of laughter from the gods. Athena didn't laugh this time.

**but things started going bad last May, when our grade six class took a field trip to Manhattan- twenty eight mental case kids and two teachers on a yellow school bus, heading for the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at ancient Greek and Roman stuff.**

Jason sat up.

**But Mr. Brunner, our Latin teacher was leading this trip, so I had high hopes. Mr. Brunner was this middle aged man in a motorized wheelchair. He had thinning hair and a scruffy beard and a frayed tweed jacket, which always smelled like coffee.**

"He looks familiar", said Nico. The Demi-gods nodded in approval. Only Dionysus knew that that was Chiron. He knew the old Centaur better than anyone.

**You wouldn't think he was cool, but he told stories and jokes and would let us play games in class.**

"He sounds awesome", Conner commented.

"It's Chiron, you dimwit", Dionysus snapped.

"That would explain the wheelchair…and the awesomeness, like Connor mentioned", Nico noticed.

**He also had this awesome collection of Roman armor and weapons,**

"If its Roman then heck yeah it's awesome", Jason exclaimed. Piper scoffed.

**So he was the only teacher that didn't put me to sleep.**

"Chiron's got that talent", Annabeth smiled. The other Olympians nodded.

**I hoped the trip would be ok.**

"Ditto."

**At least, I hoped for once I wouldn't get in trouble.**

"Pfft. Yeah right. The kid's a trouble magnet", Thalia rolled her eyes.

"Tell me about it", Clarisse agreed.

"But the question is, does he manage to get out of it?" Poseidon asked, furrowing his brows. Athena turned an unnoticeable shade of pink when Poseidon did that. The demi-gods nodded.

"Most of the time."

"That's my boy."

**Boy was I wrong. See, bad things happen to me on field trips. Like at my fifth grade school, I had this accident with a Revolutionary War cannon. I wasn't aiming for the school bus, but I got expelled anyway.**

Rounds of laughter from the Olympians thundered through the throne room.

"Oh Percy, what are we going to do with you?"

"Now that kid's got spunk", said Ares. "Sounds like a pretty awesome kid to me."

"_What a seaweed brain",_ thought Annabeth.

**And before that, at my fourth grade school when we took a behind the scenes tour of the Marine World shark pool, I sort of hit the wrong lever on the catwalk and our class took an unplanned swim.**

More rounds of laughter burst through.

"Oh jeez, this kid is awesome."

**And the time before that… well, you get the idea. This trip, I was determined to be good. All the way into the city I put up with Nancy Bobofit, the freckly, redheaded, kleptomaniac girl,**

"Sounds like Rachel", Annabeth wrinkled her nose.

**kept hitting my best friend**, **Grover, in the back of the head with chunks of peanut butter and ketchup sandwich.**

"Eww. That's grody."

"Wait! Grover? As in Grover Underwood?" Zeus thundered.

"Dad-"

"No, Thalia. Isn't he the sad excuse of a satyr that let you die?"

"No, father. He protected me. If it wasn't for him, I would've never made it to Half-Blood Hill."

That shut him up. Leo stifled laughter. "Pawned."

SMACK!

"OW! Athena! What is this?!" Leo picked up the book. "The Prisoner of Azkaban?!"

**Grover was an easy target.**

Zeus snorted, "I'll say."

**He was scrawny.**

"You're telling me."

**He cried when he got frustrated.**

"I agree."

"Father, stop."

"Sorry, I just couldn't resist-OW! Athena, quit chucking books!"

**He must've been held back several grades, because he was the only sixth grader with acne and the start of a wispy beard on his chin.**

"That must be awkward."

**On top of all that, he was crippled.**

"Okay, seriously Perry?" Mr. D warned. "Quit bagging on Grover. You're not exactly prince charming either."

Nico raised an eyebrow. "Annabeth would beg to differ."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Athena asked.

Before he could answer, Annabeth continued to read.

**He had a note excusing him from PE for the rest of his life because he had some kind of muscular disease in his legs.**

"It's called 'being a satyr', duh,"said Conner.

**He walked funny, like every step hurt him, but don't let that fool you. You should have seen him run when it was enchilada day in the cafeteria.**

"That is one enchilada- loving satyr."

**Anyway, Nancy Bobofit was throwing wads of sandwich that stuck in his curly brown hair, and she knew that I couldn't do anything back to her because I was already on probation. The headmaster threatened me with death by in school suspension if anything bad, embarrassing, or even mildly entertaining happened on this trip.**

Everyone winced.

"**I'm going to kill her," I mumbled.**

"Please do, because this bi-"

"Aphrodite!"

"Sorry, because this classhole is getting on my nerves."

**Grover tried to calm me down. "It's ok. I like peanut butter."**

"Who doesn't?"

**He dodged another piece of Nancy's lunch. "That's it." I started to get up, but Grover pulled me back down to my seat.**

"Party pooper."

"**You're already on probation," he reminded me**. **"You know who'll get blamed if anything happens."**

**Looking back on it**, **I wish I'd decked Nancy Bobofit right then and there. In-school suspension would've been nothing compared to the mess I was about to get myself into. Mr. Brunner led the museum tour. He rode up front in his wheelchair, guiding us through the big echo-y galleries, past marble statues and glass cases full of really old black and orange pottery.**

"I'm so bored with his stupid descriptive writing," said Travis.

**It blew my mind,**

"Sure didn't blow mine."

**that this stuff had survived for three thousand years. He gathered us around a thirteen-foot-tall stone column with a big sphinx on the top, and started telling us how it was a grave marker, a stele for a girl our age. He told us about the carvings on the sides. I was trying to listen to what he was trying to say,**** because it was kind of interesting, but everyone around me was talking, and every time, I told them to shut up, the other teacher chaperone, Mrs. Dodds, would give me the evil eye.**

Hades remembered that Mrs. Dodds was the alias he had given Alecto._ This can't be good. Let's see how this plays out. _

**Mrs. Dodds was this little math teacher from Georgia who always wore a black leather jacket, even though she was fifty years old. She looked mean enough to drive a Harley right into your locker. She had come to Yancy halfway through the year, when our last math teacher had a nervous breakdown. From her first day, Mrs. Dodds loved Nancy Bobofit and figured I was devil spawn.**

"He is _not_ devil spawn," Athena protested, "He is sea spawn."

**She would point her finger at me and say, "Now honey," real sweet and I knew I was going to get after-school detention for a month.****One time, after she'd made me erase answers out of old math workbooks until midnight, I told Grover I didn't think Mrs. Dodds was human. He looked at me, real serious, and said, "You're absolutely right."**

"I wonder what Percy made of that."

**Mr. Brunner kept talking about the Greek funeral art. Finally, Nancy Bobofit snickered something about the naked guy on the stele,**

"Aww," Aphrodite cooed, "I wish I'd heard it."

Athena threw 'The Goblet of Fire' at her. "Sicko."

**and I turned around and said, "Will you shut up?" It came out louder than I meant it to.**

"Oops."

**The whole group laughed. Mr. Brunner stopped his story. "Mr. Jackson," he said "did you have a comment?"****My face was totally red. I said "No, sir."**

**Mr. Brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the stele. "Perhaps you'll tell us what this picture represents?"**

**I looked at the carving and felt a flush of relief, because I actually recognized it. "That's Kronos eating his kids, right?"**

**"Yes," said obviously not satisfied. "And he did this because..."**

**"Well..." I racked my brain trying to remember. "Kronos was the king god, and-"**

"What!?"

Down in Tartarus, Kronos rumbled, "King God? Hecks no!"

"IKR. We were just as surprised as you were, dude", said Apollo.

"That kid is not the brightest", Kronos called back.

"Tell me about it."

Just as everyone else realized who Apollo was talking to, the air froze in silence. Annabeth broke it.

"Um, did you just talk to…?"

Apollo shrugged, "Just go with it."

"But…he's listening to the story?"

"Apparently."

Kronos's voice echoed through the throne room again. "Oh, hi guys."

Thalia's face turned pale. "Ignore him, just please read!"

**"God?" Mr. Brunner asked.**

**"Titan," I corrected myself.**

"Phew", said Kronos, "for a second there I thought I was king god."

**"And... he didn't trust his kids, who were the gods. So, um, Kronos ate them, right? But his wife hid baby Zeus and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead. And later, when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters-"**

"He can be smart sometimes", Annabeth concluded.

**"Eeew!" said one of the girls behind me.**

**"-and so there was this big fight between the gods and the Titans," I continued, "and the gods won."**

"Heck yeah we did!"

**Some snickers from the group.** **Behind me, Nancy Bobofit mumbled to a friend, "Like we're going to use this in real life. Like it's going to say on our job applications, 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids.'"**

**"And why, Mr. Jackson," Brunner said, "to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life?"**

A few demi-gods snickered.

"**Busted", Grover muttered.**

Hermes smiled.

**"Shut up," Nancy hissed her face even brighter red than her hair.** **At least Nancy got packed, too. Mr. Brunner was the only one who every caught her saying anything wrong. He had radar ears.**

"Nuh uh", Nico protested, "He's got centaur ears. Duh."

Thalia and Artemis both rolled their eyes, thinking the same thing._ Idiot _male_._

**I thought about his question, and shrugged. "I don't know, sir."**

Annabeth frowned.

**"I see," Mr. Brunner looked disappointed. "Well, half credit, Mr. Jackson.**

"Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which made him disgorge his other five children, who, of course being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan's stomach. The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe and scattered him remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld," Athena concluded. Everyone rolled their eyes but Athena seemed to be waiting for something.

**Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which made him disgorge his other five children, who, of course being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan's stomach. The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe and scattered him remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld.**

Everyone stared at Athena. She smiled and 'Z' snapped her fingers. Leo's jaw hit the ground and his eyes shone.

"Oh. Mah. Gawds."

Athena was too busy basking in the glory to throw a Harry Potter book at him. The rest of everyone else continued staring and all came to a conclusion.

"Swag."

**On that happy note, it's time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us back outside?"**

**The class drifted off, the girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing each other around and acting like doofuses.**

Artemis coughed while saying 'Apollo'. Apollo looked over, patted her back and slipped her a cough drop. She took it and lazily threw it at Leo. With fast reflexes, Leo caught it in his mouth, wrapper and all. Artemis smiled at that.

**Grover and I were about to follow when Mr. Brunner said, "Mr. Jackson."**

"Somebody's gonna get lectured again."

**I knew what was coming.**

**I told Grover to keep going. Then I turned toward Mr. Brunner. "Sir?"**

**Mr. Brunner had this look that wouldn't let you go―intense brown eyes that could've been a thousand years old and had seen everything.**

"Chiron probably has," Piper stated. Conner had a mischievous gleam in his eye.

"He hasn't seen what I do at midniiiiight."

"No. Just no."

"I was kidding."

"Just no. That was just…blegh."

"I was kidding."

"…"

"C'mon guys, you know I was kidding."

"Whatever you say, Conner."

**"You must learn the answer to my question," Mr. Brunner told me.**

**"About the Titans?"**

**"About real life. And how your studies apply to it."**

**"Oh."**

**"What you learn from me," he said," is vitally important. I expect you to treat it as such.**

"It's true. You can't argue with the 'best centaur in the world's' logic," Annabeth stated.

"Best centaur in the world?" Aphrodite asked, "You guys are sweet to him."

**I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson."**

"Hear that Dionysus? It's Perrrrcy Jaaackson!" Leo exclaimed, "Not Perry or Pedro or whatever else you can think of in that stubborn cranium of yours."

Dionysus stroked his chin in thought.

"Hmm. Is that so? Let me try. Perrrrrrrsias? Perrrrrsephone? Hold on; let me try a bit more. Perrrrrrsion? Perrrrrsifus? Sorry, just can't do it." He gave Leo a weakly sarcastic smile. Leo pouted.

**I wanted to get angry; this guy pushed me so hard.****I mean, sure it was kind of cool on tournament days, when he dressed up in a suit of Roman armor**

Jason sat up again at the mention of Roman armor. Piper raised a brow.

"Are you going to do that every time someone says Roman?"

"Sorry," He blushed. Piper leaned her head on his shoulder.

Aphrodite gave her a huge smile and mouthed, "I approve." Jason looked from piper to her mother, like "what the heck?" Piper just looked away with a red glow on her cheeks.

**"What ho!" and challenged us, sword point against chalk, to run to the board and name every Greek and Roman **

Jason did it again.

"Sit, boy, sit!" Piper coaxed as if talking to a puppy. Jason then relaxed.

**person who ever lived, and their mother, and what god the worshipped. But Mr. Brunner expected me to be as good as everybody else, despite the fact I have dyslexia and attention deficit disorder and I have never made above a C- in my life.**

Athena gasped.

"Don't worry," Travis assured, "Annabeth raised it to a B- with her… (*Raises eyebrows*)…teaching."

"Shut up, Trav," Annabeth warned.

**No―he didn't want me to be as good**

"Oh good, Percy was kidding."

**be expected me to be better.**

"Oh. That sucks."

**And I just couldn't learn all those names and facts, much less spell them correctly.****I mumbled something about trying harder, while Mr. Brunner took a long sad look at the stele, like he'd been at this girl's funeral.****He told me to go outside and eat my lunch. The class gathered on the front steps of the museum, where we could watch the foot traffic along Fifth Avenue.**

Aphrodite beamed. "I get my bras from there."

The male demigods all yelled, "TMI!"

**Overhead, a large storm was brewing, with clouds blacker than I'd ever seen over the city.**

Everyone stared accusingly at Zeus.

**I figured maybe it was Global warming or something, because the weather all across New York State had been weird since Christmas. We'd had massive snow storms, flooding, and wildfires from lightning strikes. I wouldn't have been surprised if this was a hurricane blowing in.**

"What's your prob, man? Why you gotta be hatin' on dat biz?" Artemis questioned. Apollo raised some serious brow.

"Uh, what was that?"

"I was trying some of the slang I learned in Manhattan."

"Please do us all a favor and don't ever do that again."

"Why? Was it bad?"

"No not at all. It was terrifyingly freaky."

"'Kay, fine."

**Nobody else seemed to notice. Some of the guys were pelting pigeons with Lunchables crackers. Nancy Bobofit was trying to pickpocket something from a lady's purse**

Hermes shook his head. "I don't approve."

**, and, of course, Mrs. Dodds wasn't seeing a thing.****Grover and I sat on the edge of the fountain, away from the others. We thought that maybe if we did that; everybody wouldn't know we were from that school―the school for loser freaks that couldn't make it elsewhere.**

"Did he just call himself a loser freak?"

**"Detention?" Grover asked.**

**"Nah," I said "Not from Brunner. I wish he'd lay off me sometimes. I mean―I'm not a genius."**

"You could say that again," said Demeter.

"Nah," Conner began, "Not from Brunner. I wish he'd lay off me sometimes-OW! I swear, one of these days Athena…"

**Grover didn't say anything for a while. Then, when I thought he was going to give me some deep philosophical comment to make me feel better, he said, "Can I have your apple?"**

"Ah, same 'ol Grover."

**I didn't have much of an appetite, so I let him take it.** **I watched the stream of cabs going down Fifth Avenue and thought about my mom's apartment, only a little ways uptown from where we sat.**

Poseidon sat up at the mention of Percy's mother.

**I hadn't seen her since Christmas. I wanted so bad to jump in a taxi and head for home.**

The demi-gods and or gods, who knew Sally, pictured her and Percy finally home. They smiled at the thought.

**. She'd hug me and be glad to see me, but she'd be disappointed, too. She'd send me right back to Yancy, remind me that I had to try harder, even if this was my sixth school in six years and I was probably going to get kicked out again. I wouldn't be able to stand that sad look she'd give me.****Mr. Brunner parked his wheelchair at the base of the handicapped ramp. He ate celery while he read a paperback novel.**

"Eww, celery."

**A red umbrella stuck up from the back of his chair, making it look like a motorized cafe table. I was about to unwrap my sandwich when Nancy Bobofit appeared in front of me with her ugly friends―I guess she'd gotten tired of stealing from the tourists―and dumped her half-eaten lunch in Grover's lap.**

"Oh man," Ares was getting excited, "It's about to go down."

**"Oops." She grinned at me with her crooked teeth. Her freckles were orange, as if somebody had spray-painted her face with liquid Cheetos.**

"Liquid Cheetos? That's a weird description." Hades inquired.

"It'**s **about here; he's anything but normal," Thalia stated.

**I tried to stay cool. The school counselor had told me a million times, "Count to ten, get control of your temper." But I was so mad my mind went blank. A wave roared in my ears.**

"Really? A wave? Wow, I'm guessing that's a 'son of Poseidon thing', right?"

"**I don't remember touching her, but the next thing I knew, Nancy was sitting on her butt in the fountain, screaming, "Percy pushed me!"**

Applaud and cheering echoed through the throne room.

**Mrs. Dodds materialized next to us.**

"Materialized? He does mean it figuratively, right?" Poseidon questioned.

Hades shook his head. "I'm afraid not, brother."

**Some of the kids were whispering: "Did you see―"**

**"―the water―"**

**"―like it grabbed her―"**

**I didn't know what they were talking about. All I knew was that I was in trouble again.**

"Hehe, _again_."

**As soon as Mrs. Dodds was sure poor little Nancy was okay, promising to get her a new shirt at the museum gift shop, etc., etc., Mrs. Dodds turned on me.**** There was a triumphant fire in her eyes, as if I'd done something she'd been waiting for all semester. "Now, honey―"**

**"I know," I grumbled. "A month erasing workbooks."**

"Real smooth, Percy. Real smooth."

**That wasn't the right thing to say.**

**"Come with me," Mrs. Dodds said.**

**"Wait!" Grover yelped. "It was me. I pushed her."**

"Grover _was_ one selfless satyr," Katie nodded her head.

"Wait, why are we talking about him in past tense? He's still alive," Thalia corrected. In the background, you could hear Zeus go: "Dang it!"

**I stared at him, stunned. I couldn't believe he was trying to cover for me. Mrs. Dodds scared Grover to death. She glared at him so hard his whiskery chin trembled.**

**"I don't think so, Mr. Underwood," she said.**

**"But―"**

**"You―will―stay―here."**

**Grover looked at me desperately.**

**"It's okay, man," I told him. "Thanks for trying."**

**"Honey," Mrs. Dodds barked at me. "Now."**

**Nancy Bobofit smirked.**

**I gave her my deluxe I'll-kill-you-later stare.**

**Then I turned to face Mrs. Dodds, but she wasn't there. She was standing at the museum entrance, way at the top of the steps, gesturing impatiently at me to come on.**

**How'd she get there so fast?**

"We don't know!"

"Shut it, Stolls."

**I have moments like that a lot, when my brain falls asleep or something, and the next thing I know I've missed something, as if a puzzle piece fell out of the universe and left me staring at the blank place behind it.**

"That sucks."

**The school counselor told me this was part of the ADHD, my brain misinterpreting things.**

**I wasn't so sure.**

**I went after Mrs. Dodds.**

"I just noticed that she's a Mrs.," said Aphrodite.

"Oh yeah," Piper began. "Me too. I pity the poor guy who's married to her."

**Halfway up the steps, I glanced back at Grover. He was looking pale, cutting his eyes between me and Mr. Brunner, like he wanted Mr. Brunner to notice what was going on, but Mr. Brunner was absorbed in his novel.**

"I bet it was 'The Centaur Diaries'," said Leo. Athena looked down at him with distaste. She pulled out the big guns. That's right, 'The Deathly Hallows'. Leo quivered at the sight. Athena raised the book, but stopped in mid-swing as an idea popped in her godly head. She cleared her throat and held the book in front of her.

"I'll let a special guest do this one," she announced. That's my cue; me as in the author. The throne room doors blew open. I ran inside without making eye contact with anyone. I lunged forwards and snatched the book from Athena, then gave Leo a good 'ol smack to the head with it. I tossed 'The Deathly Hallows' back to Athena and left the room.

Approximately six seconds later I went back inside, gave Apollo a hi-five, and ran back out again. Silence. Hermes glanced at Athena and Apollo, "Do you know him?"

They both stopped for a second in thought and said in perfect unison, "It's complicated."

"Well…. Okay. Let's, uh, let's read."

**I looked back up. Mrs. Dodds had disappeared again. She was now inside the building, at the end of the entrance hall.**

**Okay, I thought. She's going to make me buy a new shirt for Nancy at the gift shop.**

"I don't think that's it man," said Nico. He then realized that he was talking to a book. His cheeks turned red at the thought that everyone was probably staring at him weirdly.

**But apparently that wasn't the plan.****I followed her deeper into the museum. When I finally caught up to her, we were back in the Greek and Roman section.**

Jason did it once more. Everyone just rolled their eyes instead of correcting him.

**Except for us, the gallery was empty.**

"Oh no." Connor gasped. Travis nodded, understanding what Connor was thinking. They both shouted out, "RAPE!"

Katie face-palmed.

**Mrs. Dodds stood with her arms crossed in front of a big marble frieze of the Greek gods.**

"A big marble freeze?"

"No, F-R-I-E-Z-E, Valdez."

**She was making**-

"Babies! She was making babies."

"Yeah, you'd wanna see that, wouldn't you Hermes?"

The said god found a sudden interest in his shirt fabric.

**She was making this weird noise in her throat, like growling. Even without the noise, I would've been nervous. It's weird being alone with a teacher, especially Mrs. Dodds.**

"Ewww, they're gonna-"

"Get your mind out of the gutter!"

**Something about the way she looked at the frieze, as if she wanted to pulverize it...**

**"You've been giving us problems, honey," she said.**

**I did the safe thing. I said, "Yes, ma'am."**

**She tugged on the cuffs of her leather jacket. "Did you really think you would get away with it?"**

"What's that supposed to mean?"

**The look in her eyes was beyond mad. It was evil. She's a teacher, I thought nervously. It's not like she's going to hurt me.**

**I said, "I'll―I'll try harder, ma'am."**

**Thunder shook the building.**

Cue suspicious looks at Zeus.

**"We are not fools, Percy Jackson," Mrs. Dodds said. "It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain."**

"Seriously, what the bunk is she talking about?"

**I didn't know what she was talking about.**

"Join the club."

**All I could think of was that the teachers must've found the illegal stash of candy I'd been selling out of my dorm room.**

The Stolls' eyes lit up. "Illegal candy stash? He's rubbing off on us."

"He didn't even know you guys then," Annabeth stated.

"oh."

**Or maybe they'd realized I got my essay on Tom Sawyer from the Internet without ever reading the book and now they were going to take away my grade. Or worse, they were going to make me read the book.**

"Sounds okay by me," said Athena.

"Yeah," Nico challenged. "But you're a wisdom goddess and I'm-"

"A dumb demi-god? Yeah, I noticed."

Most started laughing, but then stifled their laughter when they received Nico's glare.

**"Well?" she demanded.**

**"Ma'am, I don't..."**

**"Your time is up," she hissed.**

**Then the weirdest thing happened. Her eyes began to glow like barbecue coals. Her fingers stretched, turning into talons. Her jacket melted into large, leathery wings. She wasn't human.**

"What gave it away? Was it the glowing eyes? Or the freaking talons?!" Thalia raged. Nico and Annabeth put their hands on her shoulders.

"It's okay Thals. He's not as slow now."

Connor cracked a smile, "Jeez Thalia, looks like someone's on their period."

" #$!%^&*(9$+!"

* * *

Please stand by for this message:_ Due to some…complications, Connor Stoll will not be consciou- awake for a short while. Please enjoy the next few moments without his presence. Thank you._

* * *

**She was a shriveled hag with bat wings and claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs, and she was about to slice me to ribbons.**

"That's a f-f-fu-fu-fu-fur-fur-"

"Yes, we know Annabeth," Poseidon interrupted. "He's got this in the bag… I hope."

**Then things got even stranger.**

"How is that possible?"

**Mr. Brunner, who'd been out in front of the museum a minute before, wheeled his chair into the doorway of the gallery, holding a pen in his hand.**

"Really?" Apollo asked. "A pen?"

"Well yeah, I suppose," Ares answered sarcastically. "Pens are pretty strong."

Apollo didn't catch the sarcasm. "Yeah, ON PAPER."

Hermes elbowed Apollo. "Hey, tell your boyfriend to shut up. I want to hear about how a pen can destroy a fury, 'kay?"

**"What ho, Percy!" **

"What?" Hades asked.

"Ho."

"Not the response I was looking for, but okay."

**He shouted, and tossed the pen through the air.****Mrs. Dodds lunged at me. With a yelp, I dodged and felt talons slash the air next to my ear. I snatched the ballpoint pen out of the air, but when it hit my hand, it wasn't a pen anymore. It was a **

"Burrito!"

**Sword―Mr. Brunner's bronze**

"Burrito!"

**Sword, which he always used on tournament day.**

**Mrs. Dodds spun toward me with a murderous look in her eyes.**

**My knees were jelly.**

"Yummy! Your knees must be delicious!"

"Thanks for that image, god of cannibalism. Oh, I'm sorry, do you go by Hermes?"

**My hands were shaking so bad I almost dropped the sword.**

**She snarled, "Die, honey!"**

**And she flew straight at me.** **Absolute terror ran through my body. I did the only thing that came naturally: I swung the sword.**

"Pfft, naturally."

**The metal blade hit her shoulder and passed clean through her body as if she were made of water. Hisss!**

"What?!" Ares complained. "Just one slice and she's dead?"

"Yep," Annabeth answered.

"But-but he made it look easy!"

"He makes anything look easy."

"He even makes having Annabeth as a girlfriend look easy," Nico whispered to the demi-gods. "I bet it's frustrating."

"Di Angelo," Annabeth warned. There was a storm brewing in her eyes.

"Sorry ma'am."

**Mrs. Dodds was a sand castle in a power fan.****She exploded into yellow powder, vaporized on the spot, leaving nothing but the smell of sulfur and a dying screech and a chill of evil in the air, as if those two glowing red eyes were still watching me.**

"Somebody has a stalker," Thalia sang.

"No kidding," Annabeth agreed. "And it isn't Rachel this time."

"Harsh, untrue, but funny."

**I was alone.** **There was a ballpoint pen in my hand.** **Mr. Brunner wasn't there. Nobody was there but me.****My hands were still trembling. My lunch must've been contaminated with magic mushrooms or something.**

"Your boy is weird, Poseidon," Zeus mumbled.

"I can't disagree." Poseidon said back.

**Had I imagined the whole thing?**

"You wish."

**I went back outside. It had started to rain. Grover was sitting by the fountain, a museum map tented over his head. Nancy Bobofit was still standing there, soaked from her swim in the fountain, grumbling to her ugly friends.**

**When she saw me, she said, "I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt."**

"Kerr?"

**I said, "Who?"**

**"Our teacher. Duh!"**

**I blinked. We had no teacher named Mrs. Kerr. I asked Nancy what she was talking about.**

"Fo realz!"

**She just rolled her eyes and turned away.** **I asked Grover where Mrs. Dodds was.**

**He said, "Who?"**

**But he paused first, and he wouldn't look at me, so I thought he was messing with me.**

**"Not funny, man," I told him. "This is serious."**

"Dude, Percy's never serious." Travis told Leo.

**Thunder boomed overhead and I saw Mr. Brunner sitting under his red umbrella, reading his book, as if he'd never moved. I went over to him.**

**He looked up, a little distracted. "Ah, that would be my pen. Please bring your own writing utensil in the future, Mr. Jackson."**

**I handed Mr. Brunner his pen. I hadn't even realized I was still holding it.**

**"Sir," I said, "where's Mrs. Dodds?"**

**He stared at me blankly. "Who?"**

**"The other chaperone. Mrs. Dodds. The pre-algebra teacher."**

**He frowned and sat forward, looking mildly concerned. "Percy, there is no Mrs. Dodds on this trip. As far as I know, there has never been a Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy. Are you feeling all right?"**

"End of the chapter. Who wants to read next?"

* * *

**Author's Note**

**I know it's been awhile, blah, blah, blah. I've been kind of busy lately with tests and conferences at school. I plan on doing all the books for this so it's going to be a long while. Um, ask me questions if you have any. They could be about this story, about me or just any random question; if you want to know where babies come from, go ahead and ask. Please review and I'll see you next time…well, I won't actually see you, but…**


	4. Grandma's Prophecy

**Chapter four: Three old ladies knit the socks of death**

"Who's reading next?" Annabeth asks.

Thalia took the book, "Mwah."

**Three Old Ladies Knit the Socks of Death.**

"Well this should be… interesting", Hermes mused.

**I was used to the occasional weird experience, but usually they were over quickly. This twenty-four/seven hallucination was more than I could handle.**

"Killing an old lady is not good for the soul," Leo added.

**For the rest of the school year, the entire campus seemed to be playing some kind of trick on me.****The students acted as if they were completely and totally convinced that Mrs. Kerr-a perky blond woman whom I'd never seen in my life until she got on our bus at the end of the field trip-had been our pre-algebra teacher since Christmas.**

**Every so often I would spring a Mrs. Dodds reference on somebody, just to see if I could trip them up, but they would stare at me like I was psycho.**

"It must be pretty hard to live when it seems like everyone is pulling a joke on you", Hestia said silently. She had been silent throughout the first chapter. So was Hera for some weird reason. Everyone nodded sadly.

**It got so I almost believed them-Mrs. Dodds had never existed.** **Almost.** **But Grover couldn't fool me.**

"Why am I not surprised?" said Connor, who was now conscious.

"When did you wake up?" asked Travis.

"Right when you guys were mysteriously nodding. I was so freaked out, I almost passed out again."

"Oh, we were nodding because Hestia said… she said… I forgot."

"Oookay."

**When I mentioned the name Dodds to him, he would hesitate,****then claim she didn't exist. But I knew he was lying.**

"Omj Grover, learn to die-I mean lie."

**Something was going on. Something **_**had**_** happened at the museum.**

You could hear the sound of Annabeth face-palming in the distance.

**I didn't have much time to think about it during the days, but at night, visions of Mrs. Dodds with talons and leathery wings would wake me up in a cold sweat.**

"Hehe, suckers. Gods don't have dreams," Dionysus boasted. The demigods rolled their eyes. Well, except for Connor. He doesn't know how to roll his eyes.

**The freak weather continued, which didn't help my mood. One night, a thunderstorm blew out the windows in my dorm room. A few days later, the biggest tornado ever spotted in the Hudson Valley touched down only fifty miles from Yancy Academy.**

"Seriously," Jason looked at his dad, "Not cool homie."

**One of the current events we studied in social studies class was the unusual number of small planes that had gone down in sudden squalls in the Atlantic that year.**

"Seriously," Jason looked at his uncle, "Not cool homie."

**I started feeling cranky and irritable most of the time. My grades slipped from Ds to Fs.**

Athena gasped. Nico looked over and coughed while saying "nerd". Athena glared and tossed 'Catching Fire' at the boy.

**I got into more fights with Nancy Bobofit and her friends. **

"Yeah! Go Prissy!" Ares and Clarisse yelled.

"Like father, like daughter," Aphrodite sighed.

**Finally, when our English teacher, Mr. Nicoll, asked me for the millionth time why I was too lazy to study for spelling tests, I snapped. I called him an old sot.**

Cue stifled laughter.

**I wasn't even sure what it meant, but it sounded good.****The headmaster sent my mom a letter the following week, making it official: I would not be invited back next year to Yancy Academy. Fine, I told myself. Just fine. I was homesick.**

**I wanted to be with my mom in our little apartment on the Upper East Side, even if I had to go to public school and put up with my obnoxious stepfather and his stupid poker parties.**

"Is he talking about Gabe?" Annabeth growled, "I would murder the man if I had the chance."

"No mortal deserves to die, Annabeth," Athena chastised.

"Gabe is the exception."

**And yet . . . there were things I'd miss at Yancy. The view of the woods out my dorm window, the Hudson River in the distance, the smell of pine trees. I'd miss Grover, who'd been a good friend,**

"I'm sure Grover would like to hear this," said Katie.

**even if he was a little strange.**

"And then there's that," Thalia contradicted.

**I worried how he'd survive next year without me. I'd miss Latin class, too-Mr. Brunner's crazy tournament days in his faith that I could do well. As exam week got closer, Latin was the only test I studied for.**

"OH MAH GAWDS!" Annabeth hollered** (Love that word)**.

"What? What is it?" Piper asked curiously.

"Seaweed Brain studied."

"Really? You caused a big fuss over that?"

"But he-"

"No. Just no."

Athena flinched when Annabeth had said "Seaweed Brain". She didn't like the fact that her daughter had a nickname for Poseidon's son. Well, she had nicknames for Poseidon, but they were used to make fun of him, not to be flirtatious. Athena wondered if Annabeth had meant to insult him with the name or not. Hmm… very suspicious.

**I hadn't forgotten what Mr. Brunner told me about this subject being life-a-death for me. I wasn't sure why, but I'd started to believe him.****The evening before my final, I got so frustrated I threw the Cambridge Guide to Greek Mythology across my dorm room.**

"What?! The Cambridge Guide!? That's one of the few books that is actually accurate on our history!" Athena raged. Poseidon mouthed to her, "No one cares."

Athena almost whipped out her middle finger. Almost.

**Words had started swimming off the page, circling my head, the letters doing one-eighties as if they were riding skateboards. There was no way I was going to remember the difference between Chiron and Charon, or Polydictes and Polydeuces. And conjugating those Latin Verbs? Forget it.**

"Pfft, I can do that in my sleep," Annabeth boasted.

"You conjugate Latin verbs in your sleep? I knit when I sleep," said Travis.

"You sleep-knit?"

"Yep. Whipped up this puppy last night," Travis pulled out a six inch square of green fabric that read 'Katie+Travis'. Travis glanced at the fabric and cursed. He had forgot that that was what he'd knit on the sheet. He blushed bright crimson, so did Katie. They both looked away and stared at opposite walls.

Aphrodite smiled evilly, "Interesting."

**I paced the room, feeling like ants were crawling around inside my shirt.**

"Ugh, I hate that feeling. I get it when my Trypophobia acts up," Connor shivered.

"Trypophobia, huh?" Leo smiled as he pulled out a sharpie and a blank piece of paper **(Don't ask me why he has those in his pockets)** and started making tiny dots all over the sheet.

**I remembered Mr. Brunner's serious expression, his thousand-year-old eyes. **_**I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson.**_

"I do admit, he's pressing Percy too hard," said Jason.

Travis and Connor stifled laughter, "Listen to what you're saying."

Jason thought for a second, "…..You guys are sick."

**I took a deep breath. I picked up my mythology book.** **I'd never asked a teacher for help before. Maybe if I talked to Mr. Brunner, he could give me some pointers. At least I could apologize for the big fat F I was about to score on his exam.**

"Well, at least you're being optimistic about it," Annabeth told the book, "Wow… that's an all-time low. Being sarcastic to a book."

**I didn't want to leave Yancy Academy with him thinking I hadn't tried. I walked downstairs to the faculty offices. Most of them were dark and empty, but Mr. Brunner's door was ajar, light from his window stretching across the hallway floor.**

"He's going to-"

"Eavesdrop? Yeah that's a total Percy-like move."

**I was three steps from the door handle when I heard voices inside the office. Mr. Brunner asked a question. The voice that was definitely Grover's said ". . . worried about Percy, sir."**

"I wouldn't blame him if he stopped to listen," Leo announced.

**I froze. I'm not usually an eavesdropper,****but I dare you to try not listening if you hear your best friend talking about you to an adult.**

"I wouldn't resist."

**I inched closer.**

**". . . alone this summer." Grover was saying. "I mean, a Kindly One in the school!**

"Oops, you can't un-hear that."

**"We would only make matters worse by rushing him." Mr. Brunner said. "We need the boy to mature more."**

**"But he may not have time. The summer solstice dead-line-"**

**"Will have to be resolved without him, Grover. Let him enjoy his ignorance while he still can."**

**"Sir, he saw her . . ."**

**"His imagination," Mr. Brunner insisted. "The Mist over the students and staff will be enough to convince him of that."**

"Well, except a certain satyr who can't lie to save his life," Hermes mumbled.

**"Sir, I . . . I can't fail in my duties again." Grover's voice was choked with emotion. "You know what that would mean."**

Thalia looked down, reminiscing about her last stand on Half-blood hill. Annabeth pulled her in a sideways hug. She gave a small smile to her best friend.

**"You haven't failed, Grover," Mr. Brunner said kindly. "I should have seen her for what she was. Now let's just worry about keeping Percy alive until next fall-"**

"Until next fall?" Leo asked, "So that means that after fall, they're just going to let him die?"

No one answered that.

**The mythology book dropped out of my hand and hit the floor with a **_**thud.**_

Annabeth covered her face. "Idiot."

Athena feigned shock. "Idiot? I thought he was your boyfriend."

Everyone turned silent while Aphrodite covered her mouth to stifle her scream.

Leo suppressed a smile. "Busted."

"Um, how did you know," Annabeth asked tentatively.

"I am the goddess of wisdom, my dear. How long did you think you could hide this?"

"Well, I was hoping at least chapter six. But how come you're not mad?"

"Honestly dear, I haven't decided if he's right for you. At first I couldn't bear the idea of you two, but I've seen that your friends trust him a lot, so I'll give him a try. Plus I've got all I need to know about him in this book. I've decided to give him points when he impresses me and or take away points when he disappoints me. So far he's got zero. He had -1 from the whole "Kronos is king god" incident. He gained a point from the death of Alecto. I'll be keeping track 'till the end of the book. I'll see if he's compatible based on his score."

"Well… okay."

Hera beamed at Athena, "That's brilliant parenting. I assume you caught it from me."

Athena gave a nervous smile. "Uhm, sure?"

"You know, I'm going to do the same point system with Annabeth," Poseidon decided.

"Annabeth probably won't even lose any points," Thalia guessed.

"You'll see," Poseidon said darkly. "You'll all see."

"You guys are so overprotective. Just let your kids live," said Hermes.

"And look at how that turned out," Athena replied, looking at the Stolls, who were currently having a conversation with their noses plugged. Athena turned back to Hermes. "See?"

"I see your point."

**Mr. Brunner went silent.** **My heart hammering, I picked up the book and backed down the hall.****A shadow slid across the lighted glass of Brunner's office door, the shadow of something much taller than my wheelchair-bound teacher, holding something that looked suspiciously like an archer's bow.**

"Chiron is our teacher! He should know better than to bring weapons to school," Travis raged.

**I opened the nearest door and slipped inside.**

**A few seconds later I heard a slow clop-clop-clop, like muffled wood blocks, then a sound like an animal snuffling right outside my door. A large, dark shape paused in front of the glass, then moved on.**

"Phew."

**A bead of sweat tickled down my neck.**

**Somewhere in the hallway, Mr. Brunner spoke. "Nothing," he murmured. "My nerves haven't been right since the winter solstice."**

"Suspicious," Connor raised an eyebrow, puffed his lips and stroked his invisible beard.

"Quite indeed," Travis agreed.

**"Mine neither," Grover said.**

"Hmm. Another victim," Travis stroked his beard.

**"But I could have sworn . . ."**

**"Go back to the dorm," Mr. Brunner told him. You've got a long day of exams tomorrow."**

**"Don't remind me."**

**The lights went out in Mr. Brunner's office.**

**I waited in the dark for what seemed like forever.**

**Finally, I slipped out into the hallway and made my way back up to the dorm.**

**Grover was lying on his bed, studying his Latin exam notes like he'd been there all night.**

"Something tells me that Percy's going to do something stupid," Katie foretold.

"When does he not?" Clarisse agreed. The demigods nodded.

**"Hey," he said, bleary-eyed. "You going to get ready for this test?"**

**I didn't answer.**

**"You look awful."**

"Again, when does he not?" Clarisse repeated. She glanced at Annabeth for any objections. All she received was a glare. Aphrodite smiled.

**He frowned. "Is everything okay?"**

**"Just . . . tired."**

**I turned so he couldn't read my expression.****I didn't understand what I'd heard downstairs. I wanted to believe I'd imagined the whole thing.****But one thing was clear: Grover and Mr. Brunner were talking about me behind my back. They thought I was in some kind of danger.**

"He probably is. With Percy, he's always in danger or trouble. Whether if it's with the gods, monsters, Annabeth, or even Malcolm- Annabeth's brother," Thalia announced.

"Why would he get in trouble with Annabeth's broth- oh," Jason then nodded.

"One time he found both of them alone in-"

Annabeth covered Thalia's mouth, "That's enough out of you."

"Hold up a sec. Alone? You two?" Athena questioned.

"No, no. It's not what you think," Annabeth tried.

"That's what they all say!" Connor chimed.

"Not helping," Annabeth scolded him. "Anyway, it wasn't like that. If it was, then he'd already be killed… by you." She nodded to Athena.

Athena slowly began to believe her. "But trust me on this, if he tries anything I'll chuck him to the Underworld."

Annabeth scoffed, "Been there, done that."

"What?!"

"What?"

**The next afternoon, as I was leaving the three-hour Latin exam,**

"That's a lot. Even for me," said Annabeth.

**For a moment I was worried he'd found out about my eavesdropping the night before, but that didn't seem to be the problem.**

**"Percy," he said. "Don't be discouraged about leaving Yancy. It's . . . it's for the best."**

"This is going to get interesting," Hera smiled.

**His tone was kind, but the words still embarrassed me. Even though he was speaking quietly, the other kids finishing the test could hear. Nancy Bobofit smirked at me and made sarcastic kidding motions with her lips.**

"Ooh," Aphrodite cooed.

"I don't think she meant it like what you're thinking of," Hestia told her.

**I mumbled, "Okay, sir."**

**"I mean . . ." Mr. Brunner wheeled his chair back and forth, like he wasn't sure what to say. "This isn't the right place for you. It was only a matter of time."**

"Uh oh."

**My eyes stung.**

Ares stifled laughter. He then couldn't hold it in and began to cackle loudly. Nico glared at the war god.

Ares caught that and chucked amusingly, "Oh yeah, 'cause I'm scared of a puny godling brat."

Travis and Connor immediately went to Nico's side. "Well you better be scared of these puny godling brats."

"Not helping."

**Here was my favorite teacher, in front of the class, telling me I couldn't handle it. After saying he believed in me all year, now he was telling me I was destined to get kicked out.**

"Well when you put it that way..." Ares trailed. He received a lot of sarcastic uh-huh's from the others.

**"Right." I said, trembling.**

**"Mr. Brunner said. Oh, confound it all. What I'm trying to say . . . you're not normal, Percy. **

"You're not helping either, Chiron."

**That's nothing to be-"**

**"Thanks," I blurted. "Thanks a lot, sir, for reminding me."**

**"Percy-"**

**But I was already gone.**

**On the last day of the term, I shoved my clothes into my suitcase. The other guys were joking around, talking about their vacation plans. One of them was going on a hiking trip to Switzerland. Another was cruising the Caribbean for a month.**

"Yeah you are!" Poseidon exclaimed. "My Caribbean is amazing, isn't it Athena?"

"Whatever."

"Is that a yes?"

"I guess."

**They were juvenile delinquents, like me, but they were rich juvenile delinquents. Their daddies were executives or ambassadors, or celebrities. I was a nobody, from a family of nobodies.**

"I take that to offense," Zeus complained. "We are the greatest living force on earth. We are the Olympians… and Poseidon."

"Hey!"

**They asked me what I'd be doing this summer and I told them I was going back to the city.**

**What I didn't tell them was that I'd have to get a summer job walking dogs or selling magazine subscriptions, and spend my free time worrying about where I'd go to school in the fall.**

"That's a pretty boring life," said Clarisse.

**"Oh," one of the guys said. "That's cool."**

**They went back to their conversation as if I'd never existed.**

Annabeth scoffed, "Wow."

**The only person I dreaded saying good-bye to was Grover, but as it turned out, I didn't have to. He'd booked a ticket to Manhattan on the same Greyhound as I had, so there we were, together again, heading into the city.**

"Together again? He makes it sound like Grover's his boyfriend," Dionysus noted.

"Thanks for that image." Athena tossed 'Mockingbird' at him.

**During the whole bus ride, Grover kept glancing nervously down the aisle, watching the other passengers. It occurred to me that he'd always acted nervous and fidgety when we left Yancy, as if he expected something bad to happen.**

"With Percy, that's a guarantee."

**Before, I'd always assumed he was worried about getting teased. But there was nobody to tease him on the Greyhound. Finally, I couldn't stand it anymore.**

**I said, "Looking for Kindly Ones?"**

"That's a conversation starter."

**Grover nearly jumped out of his seat. "Wha- what do you mean?"**

**I confessed about eavesdropping on him and Mr. Brunner the night before the exam.**

Athena smiled, "One point to Percy for complete honesty."

**Grover's eye twitched. "How much did you hear?"**

**"Oh . . . not much. What's the summer solstice deadline?"**

"Well then," Athena started. "Never mind about the honesty thing. Guess we're back to square one."

**He winced. "Look, Percy . . . I was just worried for you, see? I mean, hallucinating about demon math teachers . . ."**

**"Grover-"**

**"And I was telling Mr. Brunner that maybe you were overstressed or something, because there was no such person as Mrs. Dodds, and . . ."**

"Grover… shut up."

**"Grover, you're a really, really bad liar."**

**His ears turned pink.** **From his shirt pocket, he fished out a grubby business card. "Just take this, okay? In case you need me this summer."**

"Business? Grover's running a business? I bet its illegal goat drugs," Nico suspected. Everyone stared at him.

"What are goat drugs?" Leo asked.

"Oh you know goaty-Juana, crystal goat, heroi-goat, goat-bacco, goat-caine, stuff like that."

**The card was in fancy script, which was murder on my dyslexic eyes,**

Dionysus fist pumped, "Score! Point Dionysus!"

"Wait, you made the cards in cursive just to torture the children?" Hades asked. Dionysus nodded.

"Smart. I like it."

**but I finally made out something like:**

**Grover Underwood**

**Keeper**

**Half-Blood Hill**

**Long Island, New York**

**(800) 009-0009**

**"What's Half-"**

**"Don't say it aloud!" He yelped. "That's my, um . . . summer address."**

**My heart sank. Grover had a summer home.**

"Jealousy," Thalia sang.

**I'd never considered that his family might be as rich as the others at Yancy.**

**"Okay." I said glumly. "So, like, if I want to come visit your mansion."**

"Or camp."

**He nodded. "Or . . . or if you need me."**

**"Why would I need you?"**

"That's gotta hurt."

**It came out harsher than I meant it to.**

**Grover blushed right down to his Adam's apple. "Look Percy, the truth is, I-I kind of have to protect you."**

**I stared at him. All year long, I'd gotten in fights, keeping bullies away from him.**

"Isn't it supposed to be the other way around? The satyr protecting the boy, instead of…" Artemis trailed. The demigods just sighed.

**I'd lost sleep worrying that he'd get beaten up next year without me.**

"That's sweet."

**And here he was acting like he was the one who defended me.**

**"Grover," I said, "What exactly are you protecting me from?"**

"Oh nothing," Hades began, "Just thousands of creatures born in darkness, all screaming for blood and death for hundreds of generations. All just waiting for me to sound the signal, unleashing endless waves of death and fear to all corners of the earth. Best of all, this revolution ending to the sight of your blood splayed onto the earth. The face of the earth encountering utter destruction, all beginning with my cry for the end of your existence. That's what."

"Thanks for that, creep," said Aphrodite.

"Just saying."

**There was a huge grinding noise under our feet. Black smoke poured from the dashboard and the whole bus filled with a smell like rotten eggs.**

"Percy must've smelled Apollo coming," Artemis joked.

"Good one," Apollo said sarcastically.

**The driver cursed and limped the Greyhound over to the side of the highway.** **After a few minutes clanking around in the engine around in the engine compartment, the driver announced that we'd all have to get off. Grover and I filed outside with everybody else.**

**We were stretch of country road-no place you'd notice if you didn't break down there. On our side of the highway was nothing but maple trees and litter from passing cars. On the side, across four lanes of asphalt shimmering with afternoon heat was an old-fashioned fruit stand.**

**The stuff on sale looked really good: heaping boxes of blood red cherries and apples, walnuts and apricots, jugs of cider in a claw-foot tub full of ice. There were no customers, just three old ladies sitting in rocking chairs in the shade of a maple tree, knitting the biggest pair of socks I'd ever seen.**

"Ugh, I've had enough experiences with old ladies," muttered Annabeth, thinking about the furies.

"Same here," Leo agreed, thinking of Tia Callida.

"Me too," said Travis, thinking of Demeter.

**I mean these socks were the size of sweaters, but they were clearly socks. The lady on the right knitted one of them. The lady on the left knitted the other. The lady in the middle held an enormous basket of electric-**

"Eels?"

"No, shut up."

**blue yarn.**

**All three women looked ancient, with pale faces wrinkled like fruit leather, silver hair tied back in white bandannas, bony arms sticking out of bleached cotton dresses.**

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold the phone, aren't these the fates?" Leo asked. A few nodded grimly.

Jason raised a brow, "He saw the fates and lived?"

"Well, no one snipped any yarn yet, so we're all good," Connor sighed happily.

"Dude, you probably just jinxed it!" Leo told him.

"Oops." Connor then glanced over to Athena. She was holding a black book with golden lettering on the side. It read 'The Hunger Games'.

"Is that for me?" Connor asked.

"Technically."

The throne room doors burst open to reveal a human figure. AlphaOfFanFiction took the book from Athena and did the honors. He returned the book to Athena and fist bumped Hermes and Apollo, then left.

"You two know him?" Athena asked.

"You don't?" Hermes retorted.

"Well, not really. The Author just sends me the best reviewer to the honors."

"Who's the Author? And the heck are reviews?"

"It would be best if we don't go into this subject."

**The weirdest thing was, they seemed to be looking right at me.**

"Fan-freaking-tastic."

**I looked over at Grover to say something about this and saw that the blood had drained from his face. His nose was twitching.**

**"Grover?" I said. "Hey, man-"**

**"Tell me they're not looking at you. They are, aren't they?"**

**"Yeah. Weird, huh? You think those socks would fit me?"**

"Seriously?" Hermes inquired. "Not the time for joking right now. Wow, never thought I'd hear myself say that."

**"Not funny, Percy. Not funny at all."**

**The old lady in the middle took out a huge pair of scissors-gold and silver, long-bladed, like shears.**

"Ow! Ow! Annabeth, I'm losing circulation," Thalia squeaked. Annabeth hadn't realized that she'd been clamped to Thalia's wrist this whole time.

"Sorry."

**I heard Grover catch his breath.**

**"We're getting on the bus," he told me. "Come on."**

"Please listen to him," Poseidon begged.

**"What?" I said. "It's thousand degrees in there."**

"Ahh, don't be stubborn!"

**"Come on!" He pried open the door and climbed inside, but I stayed back.**

Thalia swore to herself that when Percy got back, she was going to slap the boy. Maybe stimulate his brain cells a little bit.

**Across the road, the old ladies were still watching me.** **The middle one cut the yarn, and I swear I could hear that **_**snip**_** across four-lanes of traffic.**

The whole room turned silent. Many where ghostly pale.

"How is Jackson still alive? That's what I want to know," Ares demanded.

"Maybe the snip wasn't meant for him. Maybe it's for someone else," Poseidon tried.

"That's ridiculous," Athena chastised. "They were staring directly at him."

No one wanted to continue the argument.

**Her two friends balled up the electric-blue socks, leaving me wondering who they could possibly be for- Sasquatch or Godzilla.**

"Hilarious," said Apollo with a serious face on.

**At the rear of the bus, the driver wrenched a big chunk of smoking metal out of the engine compartment. The bus shuddered, and the engine roared back to life.**

Annabeth took a deep breath, trying to stay calm and level-headed. The others looked as if they lost a large amount of blood.

**"Darn right!" yelled the driver. He slapped the bus with his hat. "Everybody back on board!"**

**Once we got going I started feeling feverish, as if I'd caught the flu.**

**Grover didn't look much better. He was shivering and his teeth were chattering.**

**"Grover?"**

**"Yeah?"**

**"What are you not telling me?"**

"Percy's got a lot of catching up to do."

**He dabbed his forehead with his shirt sleeve. "Percy, what did you see back at the fruit stand?"**

**"You mean the old ladies? What is it about them, man? They're not like . . . Mrs. Dodds, are they?"**

"Definitely not. Much, much stronger," Hades mumbled.

**His expression was hard to read, but I got the feeling that the fruit-stand ladies were something much, much worse than Mrs. Dodds. **

"Oh really," Hades said sarcastically. "I wonder where you got that idea from."

"This already happened. Just making sure you know this," Demeter corrected.

**He said, "Just tell me what you saw."**

**"The middle one took out her scissors, and she cut the yarn."**

**He closed his eyes and made a gesture with his fingers that might've been crossing himself, but it wasn't. It was something else, something almost-older.**

"Don't need glasses to see that."

**He said, "You saw her snip the cord."**

**"Yeah. So?" But even as I said it, I knew it was a big deal.**

**This is not happening," Grover mumbled. He started chewing at his thumbs. "I don't want this to be like the last time."**

"Oh yeah. Last time. That was bad." Leo joked.

"I'm right here, you know," said Thalia.

**"What last time?"**

"That last time," Connor pointed at Thalia. Thalia pointed back… except with her middle finger.

**"Always sixth grade. They never get past sixth."**

**"Grover," I said, because he was really starting to scare me, "What are you talking about?"**

**"Let me walk you home from the bus station. Promise me."**

**This seemed like a strange request to me, but I promised he could.**

**"Is this like a superstition or something?" I asked.**

**No answer.**

**"Grover-that snipping of the yarn. Does that mean somebody is going to die?"**

**He looked at me mournfully, like he was already picking the kind of flowers I'd like best on my coffin.**

"Well that's depressing. And trust me, I know depressing," said Hades.

"That's the end of the chapter." Thalia announced.

* * *

**Hey guys. Thanks for the reviews on the previous chapter. I hope you do the same on this one too. I really appreciate it. There's a new poll on my profile, make sure to check that out. The voting closes… sometime. I don't know. I'll sleep on it. Hope you enjoyed this and whatnot. I've got to get some sleep; it's like 4:17am right now. Review always, review often.**

**-Adventure_Awaits**


	5. Intervention

**Chapter Five: Intervention**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians**

**Back with another chapter! This is short but I promise that a full lengthy one is going to be posted Saturday or Sunday, if I'm not busy. Which I'm not.**

The Olympians had taken a break shortly after the end of the second chapter of the book. Zeus went to go trim his beard. Poseidon was taking a shower. (Ironic, right?) Hades decided to go get Persephone to join this book reading sesh. Athena had to go feed her owl. Artemis was helping Zeus trim. Ares was with Aphrodite, who was glossing her lips. Hephaestus was checking the ratings on . Apollo, Hermes, the Stolls, Leo, Jason and Nico were pranking the girls, besides Annabeth. Dionysus was napping in the bathroom.

Annabeth had nothing to do so she stayed alone in the Throne Room. She was just about to go see what Thalia was doing, when the air distorted in the center of the Throne Room. At first she thought that she was just seeing things, but it happened again. The spot shimmered and glowed, then finally showed her an image that was rimmed with glowing light. An Iris message.

A memory appeared in Annabeth's mind._ Iris message me when you're not in public, 'kay?_ She glanced at the image again and saw a raven haired boy sitting on a log by a campfire. The stars glimmered up above. He had a pencil in hand and was making notes on a notebook on his lap.

"A secondary order to the equation with _x_ points," He then scribbled something down on the notepad. "With a group of symmetries on the solutions… isomorphous to the Schwarzian derivative. No, scratch that. Isomorphous to the Coxeter, not Schwarzian. It then would be _x_ equals three. Making the group be in an order of 48. Now this being one over sixty-two. In decimal form being…" He sat there in thought for a few seconds, "being 0.0153846, repeating decimal, of course."

Annabeth was shocked. She had gotten the answer a few seconds before him, but no one had ever been so close solving something mathematical compared to her. Not even her half-siblings had ever solved something faster than her. The raven haired boy wasn't faster, but he was pretty close. The boy looked up, sensing Annabeth's presence. Green. His eyes were green.


	6. Grover Pulls Down His Pants

**Chapter Six: Grover unexpectedly loses his pants**

"Percy?!"

"Annabeth?"

"What- what are you doing? Did you send this?"

"No. How-"

One word. _Prometheus._

"How long where you listening?" Percy asked tentatively.

"Long enough to know that you were doing MATH!"

"Shh, keep your voice down."

"Why? This is amazing! You're a genius, but no one knows."

"And I want to keep it that way."

"Why would you want to keep this a secret?"

"Well, for starters, it's extremely embarrassing. Plus that's your thing, not mine. Well, it is my thing but I'm just going to pretend that it's not. So please keep quiet about this." Footsteps echoed through the hallway to the right. Someone was coming. "I hear someone coming. Don't say anything about the smart thing."

Annabeth processed this, but finally decided, "What smart thing?" She winked. Then she saw the Olympians file in. "Guys, guess who dropped in?" She stepped aside to reveal the Iris message.

"Percy!"

The demigods and few of the gods swarmed around the projection and all began talking at the same time. The whole Throne Room was bursting in chatter throughout the half-hour that they got to see Percy. He had told them that he was currently in northern Pennsylvania. He told them that he was going to catch a train at 6:00 am, so he had to get some rest. They waved at the projection that was now falling apart as they lost connection. Right before it completely disappeared, Percy spoke, "Thanks Annabeth."

The air was no longer distorted. Thalia and a few others shot Annabeth a questioning look.

"Thanks for what?" Thalia asked.

"Don't worry about it," She answered with a smile.

"Whatever. Anyway, who's reading?"

"Ooh, me!" Connor raised his hand. "Pick me! Over here! Me!"

"I like your enthusiasm," said Thalia. She tossed the book to Nico. "Read, Di Angelo."

Connor pouted.

**Grover Unexpectedly Loses His Pants**

"Good," Hermes began. "I'm in the mood for a good pancing."

**Confession time: I ditched Grover as soon as we got to the bus terminal.**

"Just saying, but he was asking for it," said Travis.

"And what exactly was I asking for?"

The lot turned around to see an angry satyr glaring at Travis.

"Grover!"

Grover bowed and waved. He went to sit by Nico.

"Dude, how'd you get here?" Connor asked.

"I followed a trail of jelly beans from the Hermes cabin, that lead to the rec room. I kept looking around the room for anything else, but then the room turned warm and suddenly im over here," Grover explained. Travis gasped. He checked his jeans pocket and sure enough he could poke through a hole in the fabric. His jelly beans were gone!

"Im leaking!"

**I know, I know. It was rude.** **But Grover was freaking me out, looking at me like I was a dead man, muttering "Why does this always happen?" and "Why does it always have to be sixth grade?"**

"You _were_ being pretty dramatic, goat boy," Thalia shot him a sideways glance.

"Maybe a little."

**Whenever he got upset, Grover's bladder acted up, so I wasn't surprised when, as soon as we got off the bus, he made me promise to wait for him, then made a beeline for the restroom. Instead of waiting, I got my suitcase, slipped outside, and caught the first taxi uptown.**

"I was scared out of my mind when I found that he was gone," said Grover.

**"East One-hundred-and-fourth and First," I told the driver.**

"I've already memorized that address," Annabeth smiled.

**A word about my mother, before you meet her.**

"Best."

"Mom."

"Ever."

"Sorry, but I already have that title," Hera disagreed.

"Consider yourself robbed," Thalia smirked.

**Her name is Sally Jackson and she's the best person in the world,** **which just proves my theory that the best people have the rottenest luck.**

Aphrodite gasped, "Is she dead?"

"No. One time she came close to dying," Annabeth glared at Hades. "She got ki-"

"Don't spoil it!" Hermes plugged in his ears.

**Her own parents died in a plane crash when she was five,**

Cue suspicious glances at Zeus.

**and she was raised by an uncle who didn't care much about her. She wanted to be a novelist, so she spent high school working to save enough money for a college with a good creative-writing program. Then her uncle got cancer, and she had to quit school her senior year to take care of him. After he died, she was left with no money, no family and no diploma.**

"That sucks. If all that happened to her, then how come she's not mean or crabby?" Persephone asked.

No one answered because they all knew why.

**The only good break she ever got was meeting my dad.**

Poseidon's cheeks burned bright red, Aphrodite squeaked loudly, Athena stared at a wall, the rest just smiled.

**I don't have memories of him, just this sort of warm glow, maybe the barest trace of his smile.** **My mom doesn't like to talk about him because it makes her sad. She has no pictures. See, they weren't married. She told me he was rich and important, and their relationship was a secret. Then one day, he set sail across the Atlantic on some important journey, and he never came back.**

**Lost at sea, my mom told me. Not dead. Lost at sea.**

"No, actually I'm- I'm right here."

**She worked odd jobs, took night classes to get her high school diploma, and raised me on her own. She never complained or got mad. Not even once. But I knew I wasn't an easy kid.**

"He's a bad kitty."

"Cats aren't annoyingly sarcastic."

"Okay… sue me."

**Finally, she married Gabe Ugliano,**

Nico made a face.

**who was nice for the first thirty seconds we knew him,**

"What a record," Apollo said sarcastically.

**then showed his true colors as a world-class jerk. When I was young, I nicknamed him Smelly Gabe. **

"Nice one."

**I'm sorry, but it's the truth. The guy reeked like moldy garlic pizza wrapped in gym shorts.**

"Ugh, smells familiar, doesn't it Trav?" Connor asked his brother. They both nodded, reminiscing about one of their best pranks.

**Between the two of us, we made my mom's life pretty hard. The way Smelly Gabe treated her, the way he and I got along . . . well, when I came home is a good example.**

**I walked into our little apartment, hoping my mom would be home from work. Instead, Smelly Gabe was in the living room, playing poker with his buddies. The television blared ESPN. Chips and beer cans were strewn all over the carpet.**

"Ever heard of a trash can?"

**Hardly looking up, he said around his cigar, "So, you're home."**

**"Where's my mom?"**

**"Working," he said. "You got any cash?"**

"Straight to the point, eh?" Leo mused.

**That was it. No Welcome back. Good to see you. How has your life been the last six months? Gabe had put on weight. He looked like a tusk-less walrus in thrift-store clothes. **

"I can picture that," Aphrodite stated. "And it isn't pretty."

**He had about three hairs on his head, all combed over his bald scalp, as if that made him handsome or something.**

Most of them snickered.

**He managed the Electronics Mega-Mart in Queens, but he stayed home most of the time. I don't know why he hadn't been fired long before. He just kept on collecting paychecks, spending the money on cigars that made me nauseous,**

"It's good that Gabe smokes," Poseidon smiled. A few others shot him weird looks. Athen already understood what Poseidon was trying to say.

"How is that good?" Zeus asked.

"It means that his lungs will send him to Hell sooner."

**and on beer, of course. Always beer. Whenever I was home, he expected me to provide his gambling funds. He called that our "guy secret." Meaning, if I told my mom, he would punch my lights out.**

"What a classhole."

"**I don't have any cash," I told him.**

**He raised a greasy eyebrow.**

"How do you get grease on an eyebrow? It would make more sense if he greased his hair," Hestia explained.

"What hair?" Dionysus inquired.

**Gabe could sniff out money like a bloodhound, which was surprising, since his own smell should've covered up everything else.**

"That man has a mile long stink radius," Grover told them. "I've proved it, too."

**"You took a taxi from the bus station," he said. "Probably paid with a twenty. Got six, seven bucks in change. Somebody expects to live under this roof; he ought to carry his own weight. Am I right, Eddie?"**

**Eddie, the super of the apartment building, looked at me with a twinge of sympathy. "Come on, Gabe," he said. "The kid just got here."**

"At least he's not entirely empty."

"**Am I right?" Gabe repeated.**

**Eddie scowled into his bowl of pretzels. The other two guys passed gas in harmony.**

"That's not even funny," Hermes wrinkled his nose.

**"Fine," I said. I dug a wad of dollars out of my pocket and threw the money on the table. "I hope you lose."**

**"Your report card came, brain boy!" he shouted after me. "I wouldn't act so snooty!"**

**I slammed the door to my room, which really wasn't my room. During school months, it was Gabe's "study."**

**He didn't study anything in there except old car magazines, but he loved shoving my stuff in the closet, leaving his muddy boots on my windowsill, and doing his best to make the place smell like his nasty cologne and cigars and stale beer.**

"He probably doesn't even have to try."

**I dropped my suitcase on the bed. Home sweet home.**

**Gabe's smell was almost worse than the nightmares about Mrs. Dodds, or the sound of that old fruit lady's shears snipping the yarn.**

**But as soon as I thought that, my legs felt weak. I remembered Grover's look of panic-how he'd made me promise I wouldn't go home without him.**

"Some promise that turned out to be," Grover muttered.

**A sudden chill rolled through me. I felt like someone-something-was looking for me right now, maybe pounding its way up the stairs, growing long, horrible talons.**

"You don't have to go into details," Leo shivered.

**Then I heard my mom's voice. "Percy?"**

**She opened the bedroom door, and my fears melted away.**

"That's what happens when I enter the room, too, right Ares?" Hera smiled at Ares.

"Well, uh, the thing is …"

Hera glared at him.

"Yes mommy."

**Her eyes sparkle and change color in the light. Her smile is as warm as a quilt. She's got a few gray streaks mixed in with her long brown hair, but I never think of her as old.**

"You and me both, kid," Poseidon sighed. "You and me both."

**When she looks at me, it's like she's been seeing all the good things about me, none of the bad.**

"Looks like Sally and Annabeth have something in common," Thalia smirked.

**I've never heard her voice or say an unkind word to anyone, not even me or Gabe.**

"Awesome!" Nico exclaimed, "That means that I still can."

**"Oh, Percy." She hugged me tight. "I can't believe it. You've grown since Christmas!"**

**Her red-white-and-blue Sweet on America uniform smelled like the best things in the world: chocolate, licorice, and all the other stuff she sold at the candy shop in Grand Central. She'd brought me a huge bag of "free samples," the way she always did when I came home.**

"So…" Connor said sheepishly to his father. "Percy gets candy…"

Hermes snapped his fingers and summoned a pillow case full of sugary treats. Connor beamed at Hermes.

"So…" Travis said sheepishly to his father. "Connor gets candy…"

Hermes rolled his eyes.

**We sat together on the edge of the bed. While I attacked the blueberry sour strings, she ran her hand through my hair and demanded to know everything I hadn't put in my letters. She didn't mention anything about my getting expelled. She didn't seem to care about that. But was I okay? Was her little boy doing all right?**

Hades snickered.

**I told her she was smothering me, and to lay off all that, but secretly, I was really, really glad to see her.**

"Little Perry is trying to be a big boy," said Dionysus, slightly amused.

**From the other room, Gabe yelled, "Hey, Sally-how about some bean dip, huh?"**

Poseidon gritted his teeth.

**I gritted my teeth.**

**My mom is the nicest lady in the world. She should've been married to a millionaire, **

"Or an all-powerful god of the sea," Poseidon suggested. "Whichever works."

**not to some jerk like Gabe.**

**For her sake, I tried to sound upbeat about my last days at Yancy Academy. I told her I wasn't too down about the expulsion. I'd lasted almost the whole year this time. I'd made some new friends. I'd done pretty well in Latin.**

"But you'll never be as good as dis," Jason framed his face.

**And honestly, the fights hadn't been as bad as the headmaster said. I liked Yancy Academy. I really did. I put such a good spin on the year, I almost convinced myself. I started choking up, thinking about Grover and Mr. Brunner. Even Nancy Bobofit suddenly didn't seem so bad.**

**Until the trip to the museum . . .**

"You just had to bring that up."

**"What?" my mom asked. Her eyes tugged at my conscience, trying to pull out the secrets. "Did something scare you?"**

"And now you're busted."

**"No, Mom."**

Hera face palmed.

**I felt bad lying.**

"You better," She said.

**I wanted to tell her about Mrs. Dodds and the three old ladies with the yarn, but I thought it would sound stupid.**

"To a regular mortal, it would," Thalia disagreed.

"Sally isn't a regular mortal?" Clarisse asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Whoever said that?"

"But-"

**She pursed her lips. She knew I was holding back, but didn't push me.**

**"I have a surprise for you," she said. "We're going to the beach."**

**My eyes widened. "Montauk?"**

"Love that place," Annabeth smiled.

"You've been there?" Aphrodite pondered. "Ohh, did P-"

"N-No, I-uh, I meant from reading about it so much. It uh, sounds like a nice place from what I've read."

"Ookkaayy."

**"Three nights-same cabin."**

**"When?"**

**She smiled. "As soon as I get changed,"**

**I couldn't believe it. My mom and I hadn't been to Montauk the last two summers, because Gabe said there wasn't enough money.**

**Gabe appeared in the doorway and growled, "Bean dip, Sally? Didn't you hear me?"**

**I wanted to punch him,**

"Same here, bro," Nico growled.

**but I met my mom's eyes and I understood she was offering me a deal: be nice to Gabe for a little while. Just until she was ready to leave for Montauk. Then we would get out of here.**

**"I was on my way, honey," she told Gabe.**

"He doesn't deserve the 'honey'."

**"We were just talking about the trip."**

**Gabe's eyes got small. "The trip? You mean you were serious about that?"**

"He's making it sound like he _cares," _Poseidon sat up.

**"I knew it," I muttered. "He won't let us go."**

**"Of course he will," my mom said evenly. "Your stepfather is just worried about money.**

"And something else," Poseidon suggested.

**That's all. Besides," she added, "Gabriel won't have to settle for bean dip. I'll make him enough seven-layer dip for the whole weekend. Guacamole. Sour cream. The works."**

"How did you land her, Uncle P?' Hermes beamed at Poseidon. "How do you do it?"

**Gabe softened a bit. "So this money for your trip . . . it comes out of your clothes budget, right?"**

"What's a budget?" Aphrodite asked.

**"Yes, honey," my mother said.**

**"And you won't take my car anywhere but there and back."**

**"We'll be very careful."**

**Gabe scratched his double chin. "Maybe if you hurry with the seven-layer dip . . . And maybe if the kid apologized for interrupting my poker game."**

**Maybe if I kick you in your soft spot, I thought. And make you sing soprano for a week.**

"That," Ares began, "I would pay to see."

**But my mom's eyes warned me not to make him mad.**

**Why did she put up with this guy? I wanted to scream.**

"Please don't."

**Why did she care what he thought?**

**"I'm sorry," I muttered. "I'm really sorry I interrupted your incredibly important poker game. Please go back to it right now."**

**Gabe's eyes narrowed. His tiny brain was probably trying to detect sarcasm in my statement.**

"Time to prove Gabe's intelligence," Athena sat up.

**"Yeah, whatever," he decided.**

"Yep, dumb as a brick."

**He went back to his game.**

**"Thank you, Percy," my mom said. "Once we get to Montauk, we'll talk more about . . . whatever you've forgotten to tell me, okay?"**

"He didn't forget."

**For a moment, I thought I saw anxiety in her eyes-the same fear I'd seen in Grover during the bus ride-as if my mom too felt an odd chill in the air.**

"Suspicious…"

**But then her smile returned, and I figured I must have been mistaken.** **She ruffled my hair and went to make Gabe his seven-layer dip.**

**An hour later we were ready to leave.**

**Gabe took a break from his poker game long enough to watch me lug my mom's bags to the car, he kept griping and groaning about losing her cooking-and more important, his '78 Camaro- for the whole weekend.**

"Cook your own food, fat a- butt." Said Leo.

**"Not a scratch on this car, brain boy," he warned me as I loaded the last bag. "Not one little scratch."**

**Like I'd be the one driving. I was twelve.**

"My point exactly," Dionysus agreed.

Most shot him a weird look.

"You're standing up for him?" Katie asked.

"Sort of. I'm running a campaign against incompetents."

"Well," Katie turned to Travis. "Looks like your time is up."

**But that didn't matter to Gabe. If a seagull so much as pooped on his paint job, he'd find a way to blame me.**

"Seagulls are birds, so that's Zeus's doing," Poseidon tried.

**Watching him lumber back toward the apartment building, I got so mad I did something I can't explain. As Gabe reached the doorway, I made the hand gesture I'd seen Grover make on the bus, a sort of warding-of-evil gesture, a clawed hand over my heart, then a shoving movement toward Gabe. The screen door slammed shut so hard it whacked him in the butt and sent him flying up the staircase as if he'd been shot from a cannon.**

Echoes of laughter exited Tartarus and could be heard up on Olympus. _Kronos. _

"Dude, shut up," Nico called. "That's not even funny."

The laughter stopped.

Nico read the passage again:** The screen door slammed shut so hard it whacked him in the butt and sent him flying up the staircase as if he'd been shot from a cannon.**

The throne room burst into laughter as the Olympians laughed their heads off.

**Maybe it was just the wind, or some freak accident with the hinges, but I didn't stay long enough to find out.**

**I got in the Camaro and told my mom to step on it.**

"Ooh, dangerous," Apollo began. "I like it."

**Our rental cabin was on the south shore, way out at the tip of Long Island. It was a little pastel box with faded curtains, half sunken into the dunes. There was always sand in the sheets and spiders in the cabinets**,

"Gross."

**and most of the time the sea was too cold to swim in.**

"Oops," Poseidon blushed.

**I loved the place.**

**We'd been going there since I was a baby. My mom had been going even longer. She never exactly said, but I knew why the beach was special to her. It was the place where she'd met my dad.**

Athena glared at a wall. A small flame sputtered to life on the same wall.

**As we got closer to Montauk, she seemed to grow younger, years of worry and work disappearing from her face. Her eyes turned the color of the sea.**

"I can do stuff with my eyes too," Nico boasted. He crossed his eyes. Athena shook her head. She made her palms flat and summoned 'The Hobbit' in her hands.

"No, please," Nico begged. "I can do better." He tried crossing his eyes again, except bringing his irises closer to his nose this time.

"I'm afraid there's little I can do now," said Athena solemnly. The throne room door's burst open.

Nico groaned. Thalia Ginny Cullen advanced to take the book. Nico got the receiving end. She Turned to leave and hi- fived Artemis on the way out.

"You know her, sis?" Apollo asked.

Artemis nodded, "Don't worry about it."

**We got there at sunset, opened all the cabin's windows, and went through our usual cleaning routine. We walked on the beach, fed blue corn chips to the seagulls, and munched on blue jelly beans, blue saltwater taffy, and all the other free samples my mom had brought from work.**

"You should probably explain the blue food," Poseidon suggested.

**I guess I should explain the blue food.**

"Like a boss," Poseidon beamed.

**See, Gabe had once told my mom there was no such thing. **

"Bah, humbug!"**(In your review, guess where this line is from)**

**They had this fight, which seemed like a really small thing at the time. But ever since, my mom went out of her way to eat blue. She baked blue birthday cakes. She mixed blueberry smoothies. She brought blue-corn tortilla chips and brought home blue candy from the shop. This-along with keeping her maiden name, Jackson, rather than calling herself Mrs. Ugliano**

"The word 'ugly' is pronounced in the name," said Demeter.

**-was proof she wasn't totally suckered by Gabe.**

"Or at all."

**She did have a rebellious streak like me.**

**When it got dark, we made a fire. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. **

"Ahh, nostalgia," The demigods sighed.

**Mom told me stories about when she was a kid, back before her parents died in the plane crash.**

"You are in such a mood, bro," Hades told Zeus.

**She told me about the books she wanted to write someday, when she had enough money to quit the candy shop.**

**Eventually, I got up the nerve to ask about what was always on my mind whenever we came to Montauk-my father.**

Poseidon sunk in his seat.

**Mom's eyes went all misty. I figured she would tell me the same things she always did, but I never got tired of hearing them.**

**"He was kind, Percy," she said. "Tall, handsome, and powerful.**

"You can say that again," Poseidon beamed.

"What an ego on this one," Kronos rumbled.

**But gentle, too. You have his black hair, you know, and his green eyes."**

"Percy's probably going to look exactly like Poseidon when he grows- when he grows…" Connor then yawned. Then Travis yawned. Then Nico. The yawn spread contagiously. Night was falling.

**Mom fished a blue jelly bean out of her candy bag.**

**"I wish he could see you, Percy. He would be so proud."**

"Just like I am now."

**I wondered how she could say that. What was so great about me?**

Annabeth almost laughed at that.

**A dyslexic, hyperactive boy with D+ report card, kicked out of school for the sixth time in six years.**

"Ah, ah, ah," Annabeth corrected. "Last time I checked, it was a B- report card."

**"How old was I?" I asked. "I mean . . . when he left?"**

**She watched the flames. "He was only with me for one summer, Percy. Right here at this beach. This cabin."**

**"But . . . he knew me as a baby."**

**"No, honey. He knew I was expecting a baby, but he never saw you. He had to leave before you were born."**

**I tried to square that with the fact that I seemed to remember . . . something about my father. A warm glow. A smile.**

Poseidon did exactly that.

**I have always assumed he knew me as a baby. My mom had never said it outright, but still. I'd felt it must be true. Now, to be told that he'd never seen me . . .**

**I felt angry at my father.**

Poseidon frowned.

**Maybe it was stupid, but I resented him for going on that ocean voyage, for not having the guts to marry my mom. He'd left us, and now we were stuck with Smelly Gabe.**

"I didn't mean to. I just …" He trailed.

**"Are you going to send me away again?" I asked her. "To another boarding school?"**

**She pulled a marshmallow from the fire.**

**"I don't know, honey." Her voice was heavy. "I think . . . I think we'll have to do something."**

**"Because you don't want me around?"**

"You're an idiot." Said Thalia.

**I regretted the words as soon as they were out.**

"I didn't regret mine," Thalia commented.

**My mom's eyes welled with tears.**

"Look what you did now."

**She took my hand, squeezed it tight. "Oh, Percy, no. I-I have to, honey. For your own good. I have to send you away."**

**Her words reminded me of what Mr. Brunner had said-that it was the best for me to leave Yancy.**

**"Because I'm not normal," I said.**

**"You say that as if it's a bad thing, Percy. But you don't realize how important you are.**

**I thought Yancy Academy would be far enough away. I thought you'd finally be safe."**

**"Safe from what?"**

"My jerk brothers," Poseidon grit his teeth.

**She met my eyes, and a flood of memories came back to me-all the weird, scary things that had ever happened to me, some of which I'd tried to forget.**

**During third grade, a man in a black trench coat had stalked me on the playground. When the teachers threatened to call the police, he went away growling, but no one believed me when I told them that under is broad-brimmed hat, the man only had one eye, right in the middle of his head**.

"Wow, even as a child he was a VIP," Aphrodite grinned.

**Before that-a really early memory. I was in preschool, and a teacher accidentally put me down for a nap in a cot that a snake had slithered into. My mom screamed when she came to pick me up and found me playing with a limp, scaly rope I'd somehow managed to strangle to death with my meaty toddler hands.**

"Lucky," Nico awed. "When I was a toddler, I had bony hands."

**In every single school, something creepy had happened, something unsafe, and I was forced to move.**

**I knew I should tell my mom about the old ladies at the fruit stand, and Mrs. Dodds at the art museum, about my weird hallucination that I had sliced my math teacher into dust with a sword.**

"With one freaking slice," Ares complained. "How does that happen?"

**But I couldn't make myself to tell her. **

"Just do it," Hera urged. "Mother knows best."

**I had a strange feeling the news would end our trip to Montauk, and I didn't want that.**

**"I've tried to keep you as close to me as I could," my mom said. "They told me that was a mistake. But there's only one other option, Percy-the place your father wanted to send you. And I just . . . I just can't stand to do it."**

**"My father wanted me to go to a special school?"**

**"Not a school," she said softly. "A summer camp."**

"The BEST summer camp," The demigods bragged.

**My head was spinning. Why would my dad-who hadn't even stayed around long enough to see me born-talk to my mom about a summer camp?**

**And if it was so important, why hadn't she ever mentioned it before?**

"It wasn't time yet."

**I'm sorry, Percy," she said, seeing the look in my eyes. "But I can't talk about it. I-I couldn't send you to that place. It might mean saying good-bye to you for good."**

**"For good? But if it's only a summer camp . . ."**

"But you're a demigod forever. You can't change that."

**She turned toward the fire, and I knew from her expression that if I asked any more questions she would start to cry.**

**That night I had a vivid dream.**

"Aww man," Nico whined. "Percy's dreams are the worst. They're sometimes even scary. Well, the pants won't stay dry for long."

**It was storming on the beach, and two beautiful animals, a white horse and a golden eagle, were trying to kill each other at the edge of the surf.**

"Horse and eagle? That's us," Zeus looked over to his brother… the one that wasn't emo.

"I bet 7oo drachma that I'm going to win," Poseidon bet.

"Get ready to be bankrupt."

"I'm a god. I'm not limited."

The Demigods murmured indistinctly.

"Sorry,' Poseidon called to them.

**The eagle swooped down and slashed the horse's muzzle with its huge talons.**

"Eat that!" Zeus yelled.

**The horse reared up and kicked at the eagle's wings.**

"Ha, you're a chump," Poseidon retorted.

**As they fought, the ground rumbled, and a monstrous voice chuckled somewhere beneath the earth, goading the animals to fight harder.**

"I bet the guy with the monstrous chuckling voice is handsome," Kronos whispered to himself.

**I ran toward them, knowing I had to stop them from killing each other, but I was running in slow motion. I knew I would be too late. I saw the eagle dive down, its beak aimed at the horse's wide eyes, and I screamed, **_**No!**_

"You lose. Thanks for playing," Zeus held out his hand.

Poseidon handed over a sack of coins, "Always a pleasure."

**I woke with a start.**

**Outside, it really was storming; the kind of storm that cracks trees and blows down houses.**

"The best kind," Hades chuckled. A mad glint flickered in his eyes. His Iris burst to purple flame.

**There was no horse or eagle on the beach, just lightning making false daylight, and twenty-foot waves pounding the dunes like artillery.**

**With the next thunderclap, my mom woke. She sat up, eyes wide, and said, "Hurricane."**

**I knew that was crazy. Long Island never sees hurricanes this early in the summer. But the ocean seemed to have forgotten.**

"Is someone angry that they lost," Zeus teased.

**Over the roar of the wind, I heard a distant bellow, an angry, tortured sound that made my hair stand on end.**

**Then a much closer noise, like mallets in the sand. A desperate voice-someone yelling, pounding on our cabin door.**

**My mother sprang out of bed in her nightgown and threw open the lock.**

"Don't open the door to strangers! You don't know what kind of creepy loser could be at your door," Clarisse chastised.

**Grover stood framed in the doorway against a backdrop of pouring rain.**

"Thanks, Clarisse," Grover pouted.

"Oops."

**But he wasn't . . . he wasn't exactly Grover.**

"What? How can I not be myself?"

**"Searching all night," he gasped. "What were you thinking?"**

"It was Sally's idea."

**My mother looked at me in terror-not scared of Grover, but of why he'd come.**

**"Percy," she said, shouting to be heard over the rain. "What happened at school? What didn't you tell me?"**

"Everything that was worth."

**I was frozen, looking at Grover. I couldn't understand what I was seeing.**

**"O Zeu kai alloi theoi!" he yelled. "It's right behind me! Didn't you tell her?"**

**I was too shocked to register that he'd just cursed in Ancient Greek, and I'd understood him perfectly. I was too shocked to wonder how Grover had gotten here by himself in the middle of the night. Because Grover didn't have his pants on-and where his legs should be . . . where his legs should be . . .**

"Spit it out! Don't be afraid to offend him," Connor laughed.

**My mom looked at me sternly and talked in a tone she'd never used before: "Percy. Tell me now!"**

**I stammered something about the old ladies at the fruit stand, and Mrs. Dodds, and my mom stared at me, her face deathly pale in the flashes of lightning.**

**She grabbed her purse, tossed me my rain jacket, and said, "Get to the car. Both of you. **_**Go**_**!"**

**Grover ran for the Camaro-but he wasn't running, exactly. He was trotting, shaking his shaggy hindquarters,**

"Hehe, Grover's got carpet legs."

**and suddenly his story about a muscular disorder in his legs made sense to me. I understood how he could run so fast and still limp when he walked.**

**Because where his feet should be, there were no feet.**

**There were cloven hooves**.

"Done," Nico told everyone.

"I wanna go sleep now," Thalia announced.

"Your rooms are over in the hallway to the right," Hermes clarified. "If you need anything, our rooms are in the hallway to the left. We don't really care how you sleep; you can sleep in each other's rooms if you like."

"In that case," Travis gleamed.

"SLEEP OVER AT OUR PLACE!" The Stolls yelled.

* * *

**Hey guys. I am feeling absolutely terrible. I'm sick. My forehead is burning; I'm feeling hot and cold at the same time; my stomach's a mess and my nose is stuffed. Glob, this sucks. I missed a week of school and I've been in bed practically the whole week. I'm supposed to be in bed because of this right now, but I wanted just post this even though I'm a week late of the promise I made on the last chapter. I'm sorry about being late. I hate feeling so immobile. I guess I have one real question to answer.**

**From Allen R: _When will you bring Percy back?_**

**Answer: Honestly, I planned a huge event that will delay his or even cancel his arrival. After that I'm not sure when or if he's coming back. I expect the event to happen around the second or third book.**

**Well, that's it. Remember you can ask me questions about the story, about me or any random question. Please review and wish me luck out of this stupid sickness. Bye.**

**-Adventure .A**


	7. An embarrassing secret revealed

**Chapter seven: An embarrassing secret revealed**

The demigods followed the Stolls into their room, while the gods filed in Poseidon's room. Once the gods were all gathered inside Poseidon's room, the room owner himself pulled out a copy of Percy's journal with a mischievous smile.

"Guess what I got," Poseidon sang.

"Nice," Apollo fist-bumped Poseidon.

"How- I thought we left the book in the throne room," Demeter pondered.

"Sort of. I duplicated it so that we could down a few chapters before the kids."

A murmuring of agreement broke out. The gods settled down in various seats while Poseidon began to read.

Meanwhile in the Stoll's room, the boys were changing into their pajamas. The girls were changing in Piper's room.

"Dude, what's up with your boxers?" Leo glanced at Nico's underwear while he was changing.

"Why are you looking?" Connor raised an eyebrow at Leo.

"I didn't mean to. It just caught my eye. But seriously, check out Nico's boxers."

Connor snickered once he viewed Nico's boxers. They were overall blue and featured a pink starfish that was wearing green shorts with purple splotches on them.

Nico grew red, "I didn't choose to wear them! It's for a promise."

A faint sound of a flush exited the room's bathroom. The door opened and out came Grover clad in blue boxers that featured a pale green humanoid squid that wore a brown shirt.

"I'm guessing you're in on the promise, too?" Connor asked.

"What promise?" Grover was perplexed.

The rest of the boys pointed at his shorts. Grover's ears grew red, "Oh, t-that? Yeah, yeah I am."

"Who else?" Jason asked.

"Percy," Nico and Grover said in accord.

"Stand together, you two. I need to take a picture of this," Leo cackled. He pulled out his iPhone from his jeans pocket. Before he could get a shot, the door opened. Annabeth stopped in mid-foot fall as she gazed upon Nico and Grover posing in front of Leo's iPhone and the fact that they were clad in only SpongeBob & company boxer shorts.

"Umm, I- uh, erm. Walking away now."

She backed out and shut the door softly. Her footsteps echoed through the hall.

"You two better get dressed before we get any other _unexpected _visitors," Leo choked through his laughing fits. The two boys couldn't agree more. They ran for their bags (which were magically supplied by yours truly). Grover ran too fast to see Jason's foot stick out from under, causing him to trip. Thus knocking down Nico on the way down, making even bigger fools of themselves. The boys quickly changed into the right apparel. Nico dressed quicker because of his rapid changing skills. **(Reference found** **in chapter two)**

The rest of the demigods arrived in the Stolls' place approximately 4 minutes after Nico and Grover put their clothes and dignity on. They sat around the room in various seats while the Travis looked around for something.

"Dude, where'd you put it?" Travis asked his brother while lifting up someone's leg to see if the object was under their lap.

"You're freaking blind. It's on the dresser," Connor snapped. Travis turned his head to see the black book lying safe and sound on the dresser as Connor had said.

He advanced and grabbed the book. Travis turned back to see Connor making a face at him; effectively telling Travis that he was an idiot.

"Anyways," Travis began and dramatically showcased Percy's book, "Guess what I stole."

"You stole?" asked Connor, clearly astonished. "You mean, 'we stole.'"

"Um, no, actually. I mean 'I stole'. _You _said you were covering me, when actually you were eating a jelly roll you took from The Table."

"Well I was hungry."

"Anyway, it's my turn to read." Travis sat down on the center rug and flipped to bookmarked page that marked the beginning of _**My Mother Teaches Me Bullfighting.**_

**To start off: You guys are amazing. I repeat for emphasis. **_**Amazing.**_** I love all the awesome reviews I've been getting, keep it up. Nice touch on the blessing, Thalia Ginny C. Before I realized how stupid I was going to sound, I said, "I don't even speak Greek. How am I supposed to read this?" I literally said this out loud while one of my friends was over. I ran to the bathroom before he could give me a speech on what the internet is. Anyway, sorry for the long wait. Just so you know, I'm all better now. Plus, lately I've been working on a new story. I'm tentatively naming it, "What was missing". It's most likely going to come out in the summer b/c I'm still trying to untangle the plot a little more. Thank you again for reading this story and I know that I'm not the only one doing a "reading the books" type series, but I'm going to try my best to not give up on this series. Just so you know, I'm not promising this because I know that many things can happen to make me want to stop writing this. I'm just letting you know that I'm trying my best to not let that happen. Now, now, I know what you're thinking: "End this author's note before I turn sixty!" No offense to those of you who **_**are**_** sixty. Someone amazingly good looking (It's not any of you guys; I wouldn't know if any of you are amazingly good looking) suggested to me that **_**I**_** should ask you guys questions instead of the other way around. So let me think…hmm…What was your most recent dream about? My response is going to be showed on the next update. See ya, guys! (Finally, its over!)**


	8. So You Think You Can Bullfight

**Chapter eight: My mother teaches me bullfighting**

**My response to last time's update: It started when I was lying in my backyard. I walked to the sliding glass door and entered my house. I began walking upstairs to my bedroom but before I touched the first step, I saw a tiger at the top of the staircase. Green eyes and orange hair. It seemed intent of staring me down. I made the mistake of staring back into its eyes. The tiger lunged. As it lunged, my view switched to a third person perspective. So I was actually looking at my dream-self. I was wearing a tux and I carried a briefcase. Keep in mind that I'm only thirteen, so I don't usually wear this kind of apparel. I ran to the front door, only to find that it was made completely out of glass. It had no doorknob either. I heard growling. The tiger was after me and I was trapped. I punched the glass. Tiny stress lines formed from the impact. The tiger turned the corner and was directly down the hall. I pounded harder on the glass. The stress cracks grew. The tiger leisurely walked down the hall, knowing I had nowhere to go. I pound harder. The stress lines grew. I threw the briefcase at the tiger. That was my fatal mistake. It lunged at me. Its paws were on my chest and my back was against the glass. The glass broke. I fell backwards but my view switched again. This time, I was the tiger. I stared directly at my human body's eyes. My body stood up and ran away. Everything turned to black and I woke up. When I woke up, I realized that I fell off my bed while sleeping. I remember reading off an article that dreams can reflect on what's happening in your life. Dreams about being chased usually means that you're running away from some sort of problem in real life. Probably just a coincidence… I hope.**

**We tore through the night along dark country roads. Wind slammed against the Camaro. Rain lashed the wind shield. I didn't know how my mom could see anything, but she kept her foot on the gas.**

"My kind of driving," Connor smiled. "I dig that."

**Every time there was a flash of lightning, I looked at Grover sitting next to me in the backseat and I wondered if I'd gone insane,****or if he was wearing some kind of shag-carpet pants.**

"These aren't pants!" Grover complained. "These are my legs!"

"There, there, Grover," Travis comforted.

**But, no, the smell was one I remembered from kindergarten field trips to the petting zoo— lanolin, like from wool. The smell of a wet barnyard animal.**

"Lanolin." Grover smelled a tuft of hair from his knee. "Do I smell like lanolin?"

"I'd be lying if I said no," said Annabeth.

**All I could think to say was, "So, you and my mom... know each other?"**

**Grover's eyes flitted to the rear view mirror, though there were no cars behind us.**

"What exactly is the danger, again?" Nico asked.

"Your mom," Connor joked.

Nico raised a quizzical eyebrow, "Maria Di Angelo is chasing after Percy, Grover and Sally. For some reason I can actually picture that in my head."

"Actually, me too," Connor remarked.

"You've never seen my mom."

"Oh. Right."

**"Not exactly," he said. "I mean, we've never met in person. But she knew I was watching you."**

The demigods stared at Grover with raised eyebrows. Grover had a hand over his face.

"That didn't come out right," he objected.

"So you think its fun to stalk people, huh, tough guy?" Leo popped his knuckles. "Let's see how you like it."

Leo stood up and sat on Grover's lap and looked him straight in the nostril.

"Dude, you need to shave that nose hair. It's like a forest in there. And the little green things are the animals," Nico commented.

"Eww!" they all said.

"Okay, off you go." Grover dumped Leo to the ground.

**"Watching me?"**

"We already covered this. Grover's a master stalker who's also president of the nose hair club."

"Hey!"

**"Keeping tabs on you. Making sure you were okay. But I wasn't faking being your friend," he added hastily. "I am your friend."**

**"Urn ... what are you, exactly?"**

"Master stalker, president of the N.H.C and Percy's best friend."

**"That doesn't matter right now."**

**"It doesn't matter? From the waist down, my best friend is a donkey—"**

"Oh my gods, Percy. That would mean that Grover is cousins with Eeyore!" Thalia cackled.

**Grover let out a sharp, throaty "Blaa-ha-ha!"**

**I'd heard him make that sound before, but I'd always assumed it was a nervous laugh. Now I realized it was more of an irritated bleat.**

**"Goat!"**

"Yes? Did you call me?" Grover joked.

**He cried.**

**"What?"**

**"I'm a goat from the waist down."**

**"You just said it didn't matter."**

"Smartbutt."

**"Blaa-ha-ha! There are satyrs who would trample you underhoof for such an insult!"**

"I don't think I've ever heard anyone say 'underfoot' before," said Jason.

**"Whoa. Wait. Satyrs. You mean like ... Mr. Brunner's myths?"**

"Yeah, 'myths'."

**"Were those old ladies at the fruit stand a myth, Percy? Was Mrs. Dodds a myth?"**

**"So you admit there was a Mrs. Dodds!"**

"Forget that already! That happened, like, ten years ago!" Thalia argued.

**"Of course."**

**"Then why—"**

"Didn't you hear what I just said?" Thalia told the book.

"No. No he didn't."

**"The less you knew, the fewer monsters you'd attract," Grover said, like that should be perfectly obvious. "We put Mist over the humans' eyes. We hoped you'd think the Kindly One was a hallucination. But it was no good. You started to realize who you are."**

**"Who I—wait a minute, what do you mean?"**

**The weird bellowing noise rose up again somewhere behind us, closer than before.**

"Can you at least describe the bellowing noise? Did it go 'MOOO'? Or 'BELLOW'?" Travis pondered.

"Probably the first one," Katie answered.

**Whatever was chasing us was still on our trail**.

**"Percy," my mom said, "There's too much to explain and not enough time. We have to get you to safety."**

**"Safety from what? Who's after me?"**

"Million dollar question." Said Annabeth.

**"Oh, nobody much," Grover said, obviously still miffed about the donkey comment. "Just the Lord of the Dead and a few of his blood-thirstiest minions."**

"Way to be subtle."

**"Grover!"**

**"Sorry, Mrs. Jackson. Could you drive faster, please?"**

"That would be good," Annabeth urged.

**I tried to wrap my mind around what was happening, but I couldn't do it. I knew this wasn't a dream. I had no imagination.**

"He's got loads, now," Grover stated.

**I could never dream up something this weird.**

"Again, he's got loads, now," Grover restated.

**My mom made a hard left. We swerved onto a narrower road, racing past darkened farmhouses and wooded hills and PICK YOUR OWN STRAWBERRIES signs on white picket fences.**

The demigods smiled. "Camp half-blood."

**"Where are we going?" I asked.**

"I could've sworn we just said 'Camp Half-blood'. Keep up, Percy," Travis teased. Katie face palmed.

**"The summer camp I told you about." My mother's voice was tight; she was trying for my sake not to be scared. "The place your father wanted to send you."**

**"The place you didn't want me to go."**

"Let it go."

**"Please, dear," my mother begged. "This is hard enough. Try to understand. You're in danger."**

**"Because some old ladies cut yarn."**

"The amount of irrit-osity in this kid; it's unbelievable," Thalia noticed.

"Irrit-osity? What's that?" Annabeth inquired.

"Irritate plus osity… boom."

Annabeth produced a smile and shot her a look.

"Deal with it," Thalia smiled back.

**"Those weren't old ladies," Grover said. "Those were the Fates.**

"But they're still old ladies." Nico contradicted.

**Do you know what it means—the fact they appeared in front of you? They only do that when you're about to-**

"Grover! You probably just made him soil his pants right there," Thalia chastised.

"No, just keep reading," Grover pleaded.

**... when someone's about to die."**

"Bam. Saved it. Right there. Right then. Swag," Grover gave a smug smile.

"Grover…" Annabeth looked amused, "I don't even know what to say to that."

**"Whoa. You said 'you.'"**

**"No I didn't. I said 'someone.'"**

**"You meant 'you.' As in me."**

**"I meant you, like 'someone.' Not you, you."**

"Can you, uh… repeat?" Jason pondered.

**"Boys!" my mom said.**

"That's us," The boys responded.

**She pulled the wheel hard to the right, and I got a glimpse of a figure she'd swerved to avoid—a dark fluttering shape now lost behind us in the storm.**

**"What was that?" I asked.**

**"We're almost there," my mother said, ignoring my question.**

"Wow so that's where the 'ignore whatever Percy says' meme started," Annabeth observed.

"It's a meme now?" Kronos enquired.

"Totally. How come you don't know this?"

"Tartarus doesn't have Wi-Fi."

**"Another mile. Please. Please. Please."**

**I didn't know where 'there' was, but I found myself leaning forward in the car, anticipating, wanting us to arrive. **

**Outside, nothing but rain and darkness—the kind of empty countryside you get way out on the tip of Long Island. I thought about Mrs. Dodds and the moment when she'd changed into the thing with pointed teeth and leathery wings. My limbs went numb from delayed shock. She really hadn't been human. She'd meant to kill me.**

**Then I thought about Mr. Brunner ... and the sword he had thrown me. Before I could ask Grover about that, the hair rose on the back of my neck.**

"That's not a good sign."

"Thanks for that Captain O."

**There was a blinding flash, a jaw-rattling boom! And our car exploded.**

Annabeth covered her mouth her hand.

**I remember feeling weightless, like I was being crushed, fried, and hosed down all at the same time.**

**I peeled my forehead off the back of the driver's seat and said, "Ow."**

"Eww, he had to _peel _it off."

**"Percy!" my mom shouted.**

**"I'm okay..."**

"No you're not," Thalia spoke.

**I tried to shake off the daze. I wasn't dead. The car hadn't really exploded.**

"It hadn't?" Nico looked astounded. "Oh I see, you think you're some kind of joker, don't you? Playing with people's emotions just for fun. Making people believe that you're hurt. Well y'know, I actually thought we were friends, man. But now I know that you're a sick minded little-"

"Uh, Nico?" Travis called.

"What?!" He replied angrily.

"The next sentence is:**We'd swerved into a ditch.**"

"…Oh… I was, uh, joking about… you know, _that_."

"…'Kay…"

Awkward.

**Our driver's-side doors were wedged in the mud. The roof had cracked open like an eggshell and rain was pouring in.**

**Lightning.**

_Dun Dun Dun_;suspicious piano sounds echoed through the room.

"Who-what?" Katie looked around.

"D-down here. It's me," Kronos explained. "I have a piano down here."

"Oh," Katie blinked. "Okay."

**That was the only explanation. We'd been blasted right off the road. Next to me in the backseat was a big motionless lump. "Grover!"**

"I did not look like a lump," Grover whined. "More of a protuberance."

**He was slumped over, blood trickling from the side of his mouth. I shook his furry hip, thinking, No! Even if you are half barnyard animal, you're my best friend and I don't want you to die!**

"Oh, you," Grover said in a girlish voice.

**Then he groaned "Food," and I knew there was hope.**

The said goat blushed.

**"Percy," my mother said, "we have to ..." Her voice faltered.**

**I looked back. In a flash of lightning, through the mud-spattered rear windshield, I saw a figure lumbering toward us on the shoulder of the road. The sight of it made my skin crawl. It was a dark silhouette of a huge guy, like a football player.**

Nico gasped, "You know how Percy hates the Green Bay Packers, like, a lot?"

Grover nodded.

"Well, what goes around comes around."

**He seemed to be holding a blanket over his head.**

"A blanket?" Grover questioned.

"It must be pretty cold in Green Bay- wherever that is- so he brought he brought a blanket just in case Long Island was cold, too," Nico explained.

"Ah, that makes sense," Grover agreed.

Annabeth and Thalia looked at each other, thinking the same thing-_Idiots_.

**His top half was bulky and fuzzy. His upraised hands made it look like he had horns.**

"I don't think that that's a Green Bay Packer anymore," Grover admitted.

"No, it is. Just wait."

**I swallowed hard. "Who is—"**

**"Percy," my mother said, deadly serious. "Get out of the car."**

"Sally must probably hate the Packers, too," Nico notified.

**My mother threw herself against the driver's-side door. It was jammed shut in the mud. I tried mine. Stuck too. I looked up desperately at the hole in the roof. It might've been an exit, but the edges were sizzling and smoking.**

"Hmm… either get beaten to death by a Packer or get burned a little," Nico observed.

"Choose wisely," Leo cackled.

**"Climb out the passenger's side!" my mother told me.**

"'Get burned a little', it is," said Leo.

**"Percy—you have to run. Do you see that big tree?"**

"Is she calling me fat?" Thalia queried.

**"What?"**

**Another flash of lightning, and through the smoking hole in the roof I saw the tree she meant: a huge, White House Christmas tree-sized pine at the crest of the nearest hill.**

"_Huge, White House Christmas tree-sized pine, _that's quite rude, actually," Thalia whined.

**"That's the property line," my mom said. "Get over that hill and you'll see a big farmhouse down in the valley. Run and don't look back. Yell for help. Don't stop until you reach the door."**

**"Mom, you're coming too."**

**Her face was pale, her eyes as sad as when she looked at the ocean.**

"She won't be able to pass through."

**"No!" I shouted. "You are coming with me. Help me carry Grover."**

The mood turned melancholy.

**"Food!" Grover moaned, a little louder.**

"Oh, but when I start moaning 'food', suddenly everybody hates me," Leo complained. "I see how it is."

**The man with the blanket on his head kept coming toward us, making his grunting, snorting noises. As he got closer, I realized he couldn't be holding a blanket over his head, because his hands—huge meaty hands—were swinging at his sides.**

"Impossible," Nico protested.

**There was no blanket. Meaning the bulky, fuzzy mass that was too big to be his head ... was his head. And the points that looked like horns …**

"_My mother teaches me bullfighting. Teaches me bullfighting. Bullfighting. Oh no."_

"**He doesn't want us," my mother told me. "He wants you.**

"Oh, well that's reassuring," Annabeth noted sarcastically.

**Besides, I can't cross the property line."**

**"But..."**

"No buts. 'But's' are for pooping," Nico urged.

**"We don't have time, Percy. Go. Please."**

**I got mad, then—mad at my mother,**

"Why would he be mad at his mom, she's just trying to help," Thalia pondered.

"Who knows what goes on in his head," Annabeth responded.

"Actually, you. You do," Clarisse contradicted.

"Well, no- yeah, you're right."

**at Grover the goat,**

"Why me? What did I do?" Grover asked. "I'm talking to you, Annabeth, '_cause you know what he's thinking all the time._" He said the last part in mockery.

"He, um, he means-hold on, give me a sec," Annabeth sat in thought for 23 seconds before responding. "He's angry that you exist. Because he believes that if you didn't exist, he wouldn't be in this situation. Bam, nailed it."

"How do you do that?" Grover wondered.

"It's all in the wrist."

"But talking doesn't require wrist movement."

"You don't know mah life."

**At the thing with horns that was lumbering toward us slowly and deliberately like, like a bull.**

"I understand why he would be mad at that."

**I climbed across Grover and pushed the door open into the rain. "We're going together. Come on, Mom."**

**"I told you—"**

**"Mom! I am not leaving you. Help me with Grover."**

"There's really no point arguing with him, anymore."

**I didn't wait for her answer. **

"See?"

**I scrambled outside, dragging Grover from the car. He was surprisingly light, but I couldn't have carried him very far if my mom hadn't come to my aid.** **Together, we draped Grover's arms over our shoulders and started stumbling uphill through wet waist-high grass.**

**Glancing back, I got my first clear look at the monster. He was seven feet tall, easy, his arms and legs like something from the cover of Muscle Man magazine—bulging biceps and triceps and a bunch of other 'ceps, all stuffed like baseballs under vein-webbed skin. He wore no clothes except under wear I mean, bright white Fruit of the Looms —which would've looked funny, except that the top half of his body was so scary.**

"Okay, that's not a Packer. You can tell because they never made it to Muscle Man Magazine," Nico noted.

"Or the fact that the guy has horns and fur, plus inhuman muscles," Thalia suggested.

"Nah, I like mine better."

**Coarse brown hair started at about his belly button and got thicker as it reached his shoulders.**

**His neck was a mass of muscle and fur leading up to his enormous head, which had a snout as long as my arm, snotty nostrils with a gleaming brass ring, cruel black eyes, and horns—enormous black-and-white horns with points you just couldn't get from an electric sharpener.**

"Really? An electric sharpener? Look at what school has done to him." Leo observed.

**I recognized the monster, all right. He had been in one of the first stories Mr. Brunner told us. But he couldn't be real.**

"You see him. Your mom sees him. I'm pretty sure that he's real." Annabeth commented.

"Unless he's on dru-"

"Nope!" She refused.

**"Pasiphae's son," my mother said.**

"Ooh, nice terms," Annabeth was impressed.

"Pshaw, nerd," Leo chided.

"I'm cool with that."

**"I wish I'd known how badly they want to kill you."**

**"But he's the Min—"**

**"Don't say his name," she warned. "Names have power."**

"I'm seriously impressed now," Piper raised a brow.

**The pine tree was still way too far—a hundred yards uphill at least.**

**I glanced behind me again.**

**The bull-man hunched over our car, looking in the windows—or not looking, exactly.**

"Then why'd you say 'looking'?"

**More like snuffling, nuzzling. I wasn't sure why he bothered, since we were only about fifty feet away.**

**"Food?" Grover moaned.**

"Geezus, Grover. Keep your urges to yourself," Leo scolded.

**"Shhh," I told him. "Mom, what's he doing? Doesn't he see us?"**

**"His sight and hearing are terrible," she said. "He goes by smell. But he'll figure out where we are soon enough."**

"Okay, seriously? Does she have some sort of compendium of mythology or something?" Annabeth marveled.

"Do you have some sort of compendium of big words like compendium?" Connor asked.

"Touché."

**As if on cue, the bull-man bellowed in rage.**

**He picked up Gabe's Camaro by the torn roof, the chassis creaking and groaning. He raised the car over his head and threw it down the road. It slammed into the wet asphalt and skidded in a shower of sparks for about half a mile before coming to a stop. The gas tank exploded.**

"Looks like someone's going to get a spanking for that one," Leo laughed.

Annabeth, Nico, and Thalia flinched.

"Leo, don't talk like that."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't include Percy in those kinds of jokes."

"What? Spanking jokes? Why? What's wrong?"

Annabeth leaned and whispered something in Leo's ear. Leo turned a bit pale. His face slightly changed into something more miserable.

"Sorry. I didn't mean it like-I didn't know," He stammered.

"It's fine."

"What are you guys talking about?" Piper asked.

"Nothing… don't worry about it."

**Not a scratch, I remembered Gabe saying. Oops.**

**"Percy," my mom said. "When he sees us, he'll charge. Wait until the last second, then jump out of the way— directly sideways.**

"This just turned into 'So you think you can Bullfight'," Travis joked. "Sally's the coach."

"Haha, yeah," Leo gave a nervous laugh; trying to shake off the weight he'd received moments earlier.

**He can't change directions very well once he's charging. Do you understand?"**

**"How do you know all this?"**

"Why, she's you're coach. She has to know all of this," said Travis.

**"I've been worried about an attack for a long time. I should have expected this. I was selfish, keeping you near me.**"

Annabeth reeled in many way of how she related to what Sally had said.

**"Keeping me near you? But—"**

**Another bellow of rage, and the bull-man started tromping uphill.**

"Show's started."

**He'd smelled us.**

"No, he'd smelled Grover," Thalia teased. Grover stuck out his tongue at her.

"Real mature."

**The pine tree was only a few more yards, but the hill was getting steeper and slicker, and Grover wasn't getting any lighter. The bull-man closed in. Another few seconds and he'd be on top of us.**

"Unless you've got enough spirit to keep going, that is," said Katie.

**My mother must've been exhausted, but she shouldered Grover. "Go, Percy! Separate! Remember what I said."**

"_Divide et impera_," Jason spoke. The demigods shot him weird looks.

"It's Latin for divide and conquer," He explained.

**I didn't want to split up, but I had the feeling she was right—it was our only chance. **

"If you want to be the winner of 'So you think you can bullfight', then listen to your coach," Travis stated.

"He's the only one playing, though," Connor contradicted.

"_Au contraire, _the Minotaur is also playing, but he calls it 'So you think you can eat Percy'," Travis beamed.

"Dad would love that show, since he is the god of cannibalism."

"True."

**I sprinted to the left, turned, and saw the creature bearing down on me. His black eyes glowed with hate. He reeked like rotten meat.**

"He _is_ rotten meat."

**He lowered his head and charged, those razor-sharp horns aimed straight at my chest.**

"Dodge at the last second."

**The fear in my stomach made me want to bolt, but that wouldn't work. I could never outrun this thing.**

"At least he's thinking on the bright side."

**The bull-man stormed past like a freight train, then bellowed with frustration and turned, but not toward me this time, toward my mother, who was setting Grover down in the grass.**

"That's how it happened," said Thalia.

"That's how what happened?" Leo asked.

"Okay, spoiler alert, but-"

"LA LA LA LA LA LA," Leo plugged his ears. "NEVERMIND!"

**We'd reached the crest of the hill. Down the other side I could see a valley, just as my mother had said and the lights of a farmhouse glowing yellow through the rain. But that was half a mile away. We'd never make it. The bull-man grunted, pawing the ground. He kept eyeing my mother,****who was now retreating slowly downhill, back toward the road, trying to lead the monster away from Grover.**

The room turned silent.

**"Run, Percy!" she told me. "I can't go any farther. Run!"**

**But I just stood there, frozen in fear, as the monster charged her.**

"No, no, no. Move, Sally!"

**She tried to sidestep, as she'd told me to do, but the monster had learned his lesson. His hand shot out and grabbed her by the neck as she tried to get away. He lifted her as she struggled, kicking and pummeling the air.**

"It's too late, now."

This book was awakening unknown emotions for the demigods.

**"Mom!"**

**She caught my eyes, managed to choke out one last word: "Go!"**

"Listen to her," Katie urged. "After all, you've got no choice anyway."

**Then, with an angry roar, the monster closed his fists around my mother's neck, and she dissolved before my eyes, melting into light, a shimmering golden form, as if she were a holographic projection. A blinding flash and she was simply ... gone.**

"She's okay now… right?" Jason asked Annabeth tentatively.

"I can't spoil it for you," She cocked her head.

**"No!"**

**Anger replaced my fear.**

"Here we go."

**Newfound strength burned in my limbs—the same rush of energy I'd gotten when Mrs. Dodds grew talons.**

Nico gave a half smile; remembering the Styx incident. He knew what was coming.

**The bull-man bore down on Grover, who lay helpless in the grass. The monster hunched over, snuffling my best friend, as if he were about to lift Grover up and make him dissolve too.**

**I couldn't allow that.**

It's moments like these that define Percy Jackson. It's moments like these that made the demigods smile and anticipate what was to come. It's moments like these that made him even more missed.

"_Come home soon."_

**I stripped off my red rain jacket. "Hey!" I screamed, waving the jacket, running to one side of the monster. "Hey, stupid! Ground beef!"**

"Pffft, where'd you get your insults? Your mom's reading club?" Connor said, unsurely.

Thalia raised an eyebrow, "I think you did, too."

**"Raaaarrrrr!" The monster turned toward me, shaking his meaty fists.**

**I had an idea**

"Please don't make it a stupid one. Please don't make it a stupid one." Annabeth pleaded.

—**a stupid idea,**

"Well thanks for making my wish come true, universe."

**but better than no idea at all.**

"I think the universe just told me to not take things for granted," Annabeth noted, horrorstruck.

**I put my back to the big pine tree **

"Why does everyone keep calling me fat?" Thalia complained.

**And waved my red jacket in front of the bull-man, thinking I'd jump out of the way at the last moment.**

**But it didn't happen like that.**

"Of course it didn't."

**The bull-man charged too fast, his arms out to grab me whichever way I tried to dodge.**

**Time slowed down.**

"Kronos," Travis said with a :3 face**. (I don't really know how to describe it) **"Are you trying to help Percy?"

"Yah totes. And B-t-Dubs, I'm secretly a good guy that's trying to befriend you guys. Pfft, you're crazy," Kronos dismissed him sarcastically.

"Okay," Travis retorted quizzically.

**My legs tensed. I couldn't jump sideways, so I leaped straight up, kicking off from the creature's head, using it as a springboard, turning in midair, and landing on his neck.**

"What? How- but… Wah?" Leo gaped.

"He simply used excessive vertical force and torque, thus, making him descend onto the creature's neck," Annabeth explained.

"Can you say that in English?"

"He jumped and spun on that guy's neck."

"Oooh, cool."

**How did I do that?**

"I just explained it to that moron."

"What moron?"

"My point exactly."

"What point?"

**I didn't have time to figure it out. A millisecond later, the monster's head slammed into the tree and the impact nearly knocked my teeth out.**

"Might want to keep those in there."

**The bull-man staggered around, trying to shake me. I locked my arms around his horns to keep from being thrown. Thunder and lightning were still going strong. The rain was in my eyes. **

"Bullfighting in the rain… awesome," Connor concluded.

**The smell of rotten meat burned my nostrils.**

"The minotaur could've at least stopped by a couple lakes to wash up."

**The monster shook himself around and bucked like a rodeo bull. He should have just backed up into the tree and smashed me flat,**

"So… you want him to kill you," Thalia asked quizzically.

**But I was starting to realize that this thing had only one gear: forward.**

"Dude," Connor said to his brother. "That would be awesome if we did that to car."

"Yeah, yeah. We could get Leo to mess with the controls on like… the camp van," Travis nodded enthusiastically.

Connor fist bumped his brother, "Ill mark it down."

**Meanwhile, Grover started groaning in the grass. I wanted to yell at him to shut up, but the way I was getting tossed around, if I opened my mouth I'd bite my own tongue off.**

"Might want to keep that in, too."

**"Food!" Grover moaned.**

Grover bleated, "Shut up, Grover!"

**The bull-man wheeled toward him, pawed the ground again, and got ready to charge. I thought about how he had squeezed the life out of my mother, made her disappear in a flash of light, and rage filled me like high-octane fuel.**

"Weird similes."

**I got both hands around one horn and I pulled backward with all my might.**

"He's joking right?" Jason looked around for proof on people's faces that Percy was joking. No evidence found.

**The monster tensed, gave a surprised grunt, then—**_**snap!**_

"Au Contraire," Nico elbowed Jason.

**The bull-man screamed and flung me through the air. I landed flat on my back in the grass. My head smacked against a rock.**

"I wonder which one's harder; his head or the rock," Clarisse spoke. She'd just recently woke up from a session of drowsiness.

**When I sat up, my vision was blurry, but I had a horn in my hands, a ragged bone weapon the size of a knife. The monster charged.**

"Here we go."

**Without thinking, I rolled to one side and came up kneeling. As the monster barreled past, I drove the broken horn straight into his side, right up under his furry rib cage.**

"Whoa, pretty impressive for his first battle," Leo smiled.

"First? What about the Fury?" Jason asked.

"That wasn't really a battle. It was more of a slapfight… except Percy cheated and used a sword."

**The bull-man roared in agony. He flailed, clawing at his chest, then began to disintegrate—not like my mother, in a flash of golden light, but like crumbling sand, blown away in chunks by the wind, the same way Mrs. Dodds had burst apart.**

**The monster was gone.**

"Sally isn't dead," Piper stated.

Annabeth smiled at her brilliance, but still asked, "How?"

"It clearly states in the previous lines. _Not like my mother. _She's most likely being kept."

Piper raised an eyebrow at Annabeth for approval. Annabeth remained stoic. She seemed to be having second thoughts about the daughter of Aphrodite.

**The rain had stopped. The storm still rumbled, but only in the distance. I smelled like livestock and my knees were shaking. My head felt like it was splitting open.**

"Ahh, turns out the rock was harder," Clarisse concluded.

**I was weak and scared and trembling with grief I'd just seen my mother vanish. I wanted to lie down and cry,**

"And risk losing that heroic moment you just had there? I think not."

**But there was Grover, needing my help,**

"So he cares about Grover, more than his rep? Another heroic moment right there." Leo commented.

**So I managed to haul him up and stagger down into the valley, toward the lights of the farm house. I was crying, **

"Aaaaaaannnnddddd there goes your reputation."

**Calling for my mother, but I held on to Grover—I wasn't going to let him go.**

"It's back again."

**The last thing I remember is collapsing on a wooden porch, looking up at a ceiling fan circling above me, moths flying around a yellow light, and the stern faces of a familiar-looking bearded man and a pretty girl, her blond hair curled like a princess's.**

"Oh gods, that's me," Annabeth hid her glowing cheeks behind her hands. The other demigods just chuckled.

**They both looked down at me, and the girl said, "He's the one. He must be."**

"I just realized how cheesy I must've sounded."

**"Silence, Annabeth,"****the man said. "He's still conscious. Bring him inside."**

"That's it,' Travis said flatly. " I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to bed."

They all mumbled agreements. There were only two beds in the room considering that the room was meant to house the Stolls only. Leo told the demigods to stand back for a few minutes because he had a brilliant idea. After about four minutes, Leo had assembles an enormous blanket fort. There was enough room inside for them to fit easily. They all got inside the fort and slid into their sleeping bags; playing with flashlights and chatting themselves to sleep.

**Hi there. I love all the reviews I've been getting lately.*Gives all the readers cookies* Now rot in Tartarus. Joking, anyway, remember the story I told you was coming out in the summer. Well I've been working with it a lot lately and it turns out that it's going to have a sequel. I have no clue what to name the first one. I'm annoyingly indecisive when choosing a title. Anyone else like that? Please tell me I'm not the only one. The sequel is, "What was missing." Keep waiting for that summary if you think you might be interested.**

**Question time: "If your life had background music, what would it be?" Give me either a song (That would be pretty boring) or an artist. (Much better) Bye guys!**


	9. I killed a vampire!

**Chapter nine: Catherine and Emma**

**My response to last week's question: Two Door Cinema Club. Nothing else to say. Remember when I said that I won't be writing Percy's quest? Let's pretend that never happened.**

Percy awoke to find himself staring into the morning sky. The sky was a pale grey; it threatened rain to be coming soon. The night had been rough. Last night he'd told Mrs. O'Leary that she could wander off if she wanted to. It didn't matter how far she went because Percy could call her back using the dark grey whistle Nico had given him.

Percy shifted his position in the sleeping bag he'd been laying in. The dog whistle had stayed exactly where he'd put it last night. He was tempted to close his eyes and just go back to sleep, but he decided against it. There was a job to be done. He had to get to the Underworld soon. Knowing that he had to get up anyway, he groaned towards the sky.

He wiggled out of his sleeping bag and sat down on a log he'd set up last night. Percy stared lazily at the weak embers of last night's fire that he'd made. He took out some clean clothes from his backpack and put those on quickly just in case there were any hikers in that area.

Percy wasn't used to being so alone. He wondered what his friends were doing right now. His thoughts soon wandered over to Annabeth. It was best to shrug them off because he didn't want to miss her-and his other friends of course- even more.

Birds tweeted from the trees around him. He caught a weak scent of bread nearby. Percy looked down the slope and saw a gas station down there. There was a road packed with cars that shot off from either side of the station. He figured that he should at least eat some breakfast before continuing his journey.

Percy packed his sleeping bag and started heading down the slope. He went around and entered from the front since he was originally approaching from the back side. The odor of various treats smothered his nose. He toured the small store. There was a short line of customers at the front desk. Percy went around the back in search of a drink.

Percy noticed that there was little girl sitting on the ground by the candy rack. The girl looked about five or six. Her clothes were frayed and tattered in most places. She had small scratches on her arms and cheeks. She also had messy chocolate colored hair and big sapphire painted eyes. She had her head in between her knees. By her legs lied a brown stuffed monkey. Its arms legs and tail were very limp and skinny.

The little girl raised her head to look at Percy. Percy noticed that she had a small gash right above her eyebrow. A dried smudge of deep red stained its way from the gash to her eyebrow. Percy kneeled in front of her and tried his best not to frighten her.

"Hi there," Percy greeted. The little girl stared at Percy with caution. She didn't respond. "What's your name," Percy tried again.

In a shaky voice, the little girl replied, "Emma told me not to talk to strangers."

Percy paused; unsure of how to answer back to that. "Who's Catherine?"

"My sister," The little girl responded, completely contradicting what she had said before.

"Where is she?"

"I don't know. She told me to stay here and that she would be back in a second."

"Did you come here with only her?"

"Yes."

"How 'bout I buy you some candy while you wait for her. Would you like that?"

"…Yes, thank you mister."

"Call me Percy. What's your name?"

"Emma."

"Well then, Emma. Pick out your favorite candy."

She seemed apprehensive at first, but she reached out and clutched a pack of gummy worms. Percy frowned at that.

"Don't you want some more? How about you get some more for yourself _and_ Catherine," Percy suggested. Emma nodded tentatively. She grabbed more packs of candy.

"That's better," Percy smiled. He reached out his hand to ruffle her hair, but Emma flinched when his hand came close. Percy pulled his hand back.

"Hey, it's okay. C'mon, let's go pay for these." Percy urged. He made his way to the front desk while Emma followed behind. Emma placed the packets of candy on the check-out counter while Percy bought them. The two went to the back of the store and Emma began to eat her candy. Percy was just about to ask Emma where she was from, but suddenly the ladies room door opened and a girl walked out.

She looked a lot like Emma, except the fact that she was Percy's age. Her hair was lighter than Emma and with stern cerulean eyes. The girls' arms and clothes had claw marks all over. Once she saw the two of them, she rushed over to Emma and glared at Percy as if he was about to kidnap Emma.

"_That must be Catherine,"_ Percy raised an eyebrow in thought.

"What did I tell you, Emma?" Catherine scolded her younger sister. "I said not to talk to anyone!"

"B-But, he got me candy," Emma protested.

"Doesn't matter. We need to go."

"We got some for you, too," Percy added.

"Thanks, but no thanks. Now if you excuse me, we need to go," Catherine glared. Catherine started to walk to the exit. Emma went to Percy and held on to his arm as an act of not leaving him behind. Catherine turned around as she realized that Emma wasn't with her.

"No, Emma. We can't take him. I don't even know him, plus he probably has better things to do than travel across America with two broke girls."

"I'm game," Percy smiled, "Plus I like that show."

"What show?"

"Two Broke Girls."

Catherine almost smiled. "This is a bad idea. You won't be able to survive."

"What do you mean?"

"You won't believe me if I told you."

"Try me."

"We have been getting attacked by monsters. There."

"I believe you."

"See? I told you- wait, what? You believe me?"

"Of course. You're a demigod. You and your sister."

"I'm a demi-what? And how do you know that she's my sister. I didn't tell you anything about me."

"Emma told me."

Catherine glared at her little sister who laughed nervously.

"Where was the last time you saw any monsters," Percy asked Catherine.

"Right behind this gas station."

"That's impossible. I passed right through there."

"Emma spotted them."

Percy stared down at Emma to see for any clues to who her godly parent might be. She grew red and hid behind him. Percy laughed.

"Anyway, let's go find out who this monster is," Percy began forwards to the exit. The two girls didn't follow.

"Well, come on. The monster isn't going to kill itself. Unless it's suicidal, which I doubt it." Percy urged.

"What makes you think I can trust you," Catherine retorted.

"The fact that I'm willing to protect the both of you."

"Why do you even care? You could get yourself killed for all we know."

Percy didn't know why. He just knew that he had to protect these two. Everyone always told him that he would give anything to save a friend. That he was too loyal. This was the first time he'd really noticed it. This must be what they meant. This was his fatal flaw.

"I can't really explain it. It feels like I just have to. I don't know how to explain this, but we have to get out of here."

Percy left the building and the other two followed suit. They went behind the station to an empty back parking lot. The edge of the forest was meters away. That's where two empousa stood. They smiled at the new prey. Emma hid herself behind Percy while Catherine stood beside him with a quite large chunk of rock.

"Perseus Jackson. I've heard lots about you," The one on the right said. Percy uncapped riptide. Emma backed away from Percy; frightened by the weapon.

"Straight to the point, eh? No pun intended," the one on the right said. "But wait. Just give us these two godlings and we'll be on our way."

"Leave now or die. Your choice," Percy stood firm.

"Come on, Seaweed Brain. Don't be a killjoy. Give us the girls."

Percy froze, "Don't call me that."

The empousa on the right cackled, "What? Is that name reserved for-"

She didn't have enough time to finish her sentence because a Celestial Bronze blade slashed at her neck. There was a sickening thud as her head hit the ground. Catherine covered Emma's eyes so she couldn't see the decapitated body in front of Percy. The left empousa bared her teeth and lunged at Percy. He sidestepped, but the empousa had anticipated that and kicked Percy in the chest with her goat leg. He flew back and landed at the curb of the parking lot.

The empousa charged Catherine. She backed away a little; the empousa grinned at the easy prey she was going to feed on. The empousa swiped her clawed fingers at Catherine who blocked with the chunk of stone she had. Meanwhile, Percy sat up a little dazed. He stared at the fight. The empousa shrieked at her now broken wrist. The stone that Catherine had crumbled to pieces from the contact it had made with the empousa's wrist. This left Catherine defenseless. Catherine had a little time because the empousa had backed away to inspect its wrist.

Percy called Catherine's name. She looked over. Percy threw riptide at her in pen form.

"What am I supposed to do with a pen?!" Catherine yelled as she ducked from a swipe from the empousa who was now using its other arm. Catherine jabbed at the empousa's face with the pen.

"Uncap it, genius!" Percy called. Catherine pulled the cap off and the pen elongated into a three foot Celestial Bronze sword. She shrieked and dropped it in shock. Percy face-palmed. Catherine picked up the sword and dodged another one arm attack. Catherine slashed at the empousa's working arm. The arm fell off and disintegrated. The empousa had been left with one arm that was useless.

"Now that's just mean," Percy laughed. Catherine ended its misery by striking at the empousa's heart. The corpse disintegrated.

"Whoa," Catherine looked at the sword. "I just killed a vampire."

Percy walked up to her, "Congratulations."

Catherine screamed in joy and raised her hands in the air, almost cutting Percy's face off in the motion, "I JUST KILLED A VAMPIRE!"

"Yay!" Emma applauded.

Percy laughed and applauded her, too. In a more serious tone, he told her, "Now give me my sword back or I'll drown you."

"Okay, sheesh."

"So… do you still want to leave or do you want to tag along with me?"

Emma pulled Catherine's hand, begging her to accept Percy's offer.

"This could be fun." Catherine grinned.

"Yes!" Emma shouted.

"So, where to, captain?" Catherine asked Percy.

"Captain?"

"No? I'll just go with 'Percy'."

"That would be best. First off, we go find you guys some weapons and then get a bite to eat. Then we get out of New York."

"Sounds like a plan."

**Hello! I missed you guys. Did you miss me? Last week I had to stop myself from writing this because I had End of the year finals at school. Schools out now, so yay. As you can see, I intend on making this story much more than just a regular old 'read the books' story. Um… what else? Oh ya**

**Question time: How did you meet your best friend and why did you become friends?**

**I'm going to be alternating between Percy's quest and reading the books. So expect the next chapter to be 'playing pinochle with a horse' or something. Bye guys and hello summer! **


	10. Of Cards and Horses

**Chapter Ten: I play pinochle with a horse**

**My response to last week's question: She was the new girl at school in fifth grade. It was winter and all the fifth grade classes were out for recess. My friends and I were having snowball fights, but I accidently hit her in the foot with a snowball. She screamed at me saying, "That hurt, Y'know!" So I just stuck my tongue out at her and we became enemies for the rest of fifth grade. In sixth grade, one of my friends had a crush on her and I was to be his wingman. We used to go over to her house all the time and as time passed on, I began to bond with her. Soon, she and I were best friends and then the drama began. After a turn of events, she hated both me and my friends' (the one who had a crush on her) guts. She soon realized that she had no reason to hate me, so we became best friends again. She still hates my other friend. Were still best friends even now, but now **_**I **_**have a crush on her. Though, it's never going to happen because she's going to a different school in a different area. I'm never going to see her again but we keep in touch via text.**

* * *

When the demigods awoke, they saw that their fort had collapsed. Katie had randomly ended up right by Travis's sleeping bag. She had scooted away a few feet before he woke up. Most of the demigods were lying under piles of pillows and bed sheets. Nico smirked mischievously, grabbed a pillow and smacked Thalia's head with it.

"You're so dead, Di Angelo," She snapped, even though she was smiling. Thalia grabbed a pillow and sent it flying at Nico, who dodged it and laughed as it hit Annabeth instead. Soon enough a playful pillow fight erupted throughout the room. Connor plugged his IPhone into the iPod dock on the stereo in the corner and blasted the song '_Tongue tied'_ to full blast. Fancy Greek style, feather filled pillows were being thrown or used to hit another person. Their laughter filled up the room. There were white feathers everywhere; it looked as if the whole room was in a blizzard.

The pillow fight slowly died down as everyone looked down at the two foot deep mess of feathers on the ground. Leo let out thrilled whoop and dived into the pile of pillows and feathers. The others followed his example and made the feathers airborne once more.

The demigods and gods filed in the dining room for breakfast. They sat at a long table that had fourteen chairs on each side. The twelve Olympians plus Hestia and Hades sat on one side while the ten demigods plus satyr sat on the other side. The table was empty. Zeus snapped his fingers and suddenly, plates and goblets hovered onto the table. They were being carried by invisible waiters. When the table was set, the food was chosen by just thinking of it. Once everyone was digging in, Poseidon looked over to the demigods.

"I'm guessing you guys woke up well," He smirked.

"Quite," Travis answered. "Speaking of, we accidentally read the next chapter."

"Accidentally?"

"Well…no."

"That's cool, we did, too."

"That reminds me," Athena piped up. "Plus one point to Percy for the Minotaur death."

Annabeth remained stoic, but was secretly jumping up and down in her head.

Later, they all got back to their spots in the throne room-gods to their thrones and godlings to the various couches arranged for them. Connor had the book this time.

**I Play Pinochle with a Horse**

"I only know one horse, so it's pretty obvious who that horse is," Katie commented.

"I know two horses," Annabeth objected. "Actually, four. But, Blackjack and his buds can't play Pinochle, so it's pretty obvious who that horse is."

"We're basically back to where I ended off, now," Katie chuckled.

"Sorry."

**I had weird dreams full of barnyard animals. Most of them wanted to kill me.**

"Pshaw, everyone wants to kill you these days," Thalia pointed out.

**The rest wanted food.**

"Okay?"

**I must've woken up several times, but what I heard and saw made no sense, so I just passed out again. I remember lying in a soft bed, being spoon-fed something that tasted like buttered-popcorn, only it was pudding.**

"Then it must be popcorn flavored pudding," Leo came to a conclusion.

"Or Ambrosia. Even Snack PackTM can't come up with something like that," Piper differed.

"Or Ambrosia. Whatever."

**The girl with curly blond hair hovered over me, smirking as she scraped drips off my chin with the spoon.**

Annabeth found a sudden interest in the painting of Hestia on the wall. The demigods snickered.

**When she saw my eyes open, she asked, "What will happen at the summer solstice?"**

"Really? 'Cause he's gonna know. Pshaw," Clarisse supposed sarcastically.

"I thought he would know," Annabeth retorted. She remembered the Iris message she had seen yesterday. _"How did he get so smart? Has he been like this the whole time or is this new?" _She pondered.

**I managed to choke, "What?"**

"Thank you, Percy, for proving my point for me," Clarisse smirked.

**She looked around, as if afraid someone would overhear. "What's going on? What was stolen? We've only got a few weeks!"**

"Stolen? Who said anything was stolen?" Zeus asked; still not getting it. No one dared to answer.

**"I'm sorry," I mumbled, "I don't . . ."**

**Somebody knocked on the door, and the girl quickly filled my mouth with pudding.**

"You should've shut him up differently," Aphrodite glanced at Annabeth while wiggling her eyebrows. Annabeth turned red; meanwhile Athena chucked 'The fault in our stars' at Aphrodite. The book barely bounced off the top of her head.

"Haven't thrown books in a while. Mah aim is getting womanly," Athena noticed.

"But aren't you a woman?" Leo asked.

"Pshaw, I'm a goddess, silly."

"Of course."

**The next time I woke up, the girl was gone.**

"Too stupid for your taste, eh? I liked you better before," Athena observed.

"Mother!"

"I'm joking! I love you, still."

**A husky dude, like a surfer, stood in the corner of the bedroom keeping watch over me. He had blue eyes-at least a dozen of them-on his cheeks, his forehead, the back of his hands.**

"Argus," Hera smiled.

"He's definitely keeping watch all right," Travis laughed.

**When I finally came around for good, there was nothing weird about my surrounding, except that they were nicer than I was used to.**

"I rule the place, of course it's going to be better than you're used to," Dionysus bragged.

**I was sitting in a deck chair on a huge porch, gazing across a meadow at green hills in the distance.**

"The big house."

**The breeze smelled like strawberries. There was a blanket over my legs, a pillow behind my neck.**

"You're welcome," Annabeth grinned.

**All that was great, but my mouth felt like a scorpion had been using it for a nest.**

"I feel ya, man," Connor stated solemnly.

"Uhh-"

"Don't ask."

**My tongue was dry and nasty and every one of my teeth hurt. On the table next to me was a tall drink. It looked like iced apple juice, with a green straw and a paper parasol stuck through a maraschino cherry. My hand was so weak. I almost dropped the glass once I got my fingers around it.**

"Careful," Leo warned.

**"Careful," a familiar voice said.**

Leo gasped. He shut his eyes, bit his lip and flung his hands in the air, "I'm psychic."

He opened his eyes just in time to see a dark square object hit his face. He rubbed his face and read the title: Maximum Ride: The angel experiment. He looked up to the direction the book was thrown from. Lolcats was hanging upside down from the chandelier with the rest of the books from the MR series. Artemis, Poseidon and Hermes waved and gave Lolcats thumbs up. Lolcats waved back and dived out the window.

Everyone stared at the three Olympians.

"What?" They said innocently.

"Nothing," the others said back.

**Grover was leaning against the porch railing, looking like he hadn't slept in a week.**

"Had you?" Jason asked the goat.

"Pshaw, just half a week," Grover retorted.

**Under one arm, he cradled a shoe box. He was wearing blue jeans, Converse hi-tops and a bright orange T-shirt that said CAMP HALF-BLOOD.**

"That's my favorite shirt, right there," Grover added.

**Just plain old Grover. Not the goat boy. So maybe I'd had a nightmare.**

"Not quite."

**Maybe my mom was okay.**

Hades pondered at the possibility. He wondered what his book-self was up to.

**We were still on vacation, and we'd stopped here at this big house for some reason.**

"No, remember," Hestia urged.

**And . . .**

"And . . . ?"

**"You saved my life," Grover said. "I . . . well, the least I could do . . . I went back to the hill. I thought you might want this."**

**Reverently, he placed the shoe box in my lap.**

"Uhm, shoe box?" Jason asked.

"Percy ordered some Vans right before the Minotaur wrecked the car. He just didn't mention it," Leo answered.

"Oh okay. Wait, what?"

**Inside was a black-and-white bull's horn,**

"Oh, never mind about the Vans."

**the base jagged from being broken off, the tip splattered with dried blood. It hadn't been a nightmare.**

**"The Minotaur," I said.**

"Wow, just say it out loud," Leo supposed sarcastically.

"But you just said the M word earlier," Piper jogged his memory.

"Well, yeah. But it doesn't matter because were in a safe room," He made circle movements with his arms to emphasize. "If a Minotaur shows up here, Demeter can just throw one of her explosive Corn Flakes cereal boxes at it. Then it blows up. Like this," Leo made an explosion sound with his mouth in Piper's ear.

"I get the idea," Piper spoke, wiping spit out of her ear.

"Wait a sec," Demeter halted. "How did you know about my explosive Corn Flakes?"

"I tried to eat some at breakfast. I'm not going to go in details about what happened after. Just don't go in the bathroom for a bit, the smoke still needs to clear out."

**"Um, Percy, it isn't a good idea-"**

**"That's what they call him in the Greek myths, isn't it?" I demanded. "The Minotaur, Half man, half bull."**

"We've got a bad boy over here," Athena sneered, rolling her eyes.

**Grover shifted uncomfortably. "You've been out for two days. How much do you remember?"**

**"My mom. Is she really . . ."**

**He looked down.**

"Is that a yes?" Connor asked Grover.

**I stared across the meadow. There were groves of trees, a winding stream, acres of strawberries spread out under the blue sky.**

"You're welcome," Demeter coughed out.

**The valley was surrounded by rolling hills, and the tallest one, directly in front of us, was the one with the huge pine tree on top.**

"He called me fat again," Thalia scowled. "Not nice, cuz."

**Even that looked beautiful in the sunlight.**

"Pshaw, now you're trying to kiss up to me? Apology not accepted."

**My mother was gone. The whole world should be black and cold. Nothing should look beautiful.**

"Rawr, aren't we upset," Dionysus smirked.

**"I'm sorry," Grover sniffled. "I'm a failure. I'm-I'm the worst satyr in the world."**

"You're okay by me," Apollo attempted.

**He moaned, stomping his foot so hard it came off.**

"Ahh, gross! Excuse me, I'm going to go puke now," Aphrodite gagged.

"No!" The others yelled.

"What!?"

"Don't go in the bathroom!"

"Well that's just fantastic. Thanks a lot, Leo! Is there a god of plumbing we could call?"

"Well, no. The closest thing to a plumbing god is Hephaestus," Athena answered.

All heads turned to the Lord of Blacksmithing.

"Well, I-uh, you see-I, um," Hephaestus stammered.

"Please," Aphrodite attempted a puppy dog face and held Hephaestus's hand.

"Cute faces don't work on me," He said flatly. Aphrodite transformed into a real puppy** (Hey, they're gods, right?) **and did the face again.

"Dang it, Aphrodite! Fine I'll do it," Hephaestus decided. Aphrodite transformed back into her regular self. Ares snickered at the blacksmith god.

"Actually, I'll do it on one condition. Ares has to come along," Hephaestus smirked smugly.

"What! No way am I agreeing with that!" Ares disputed.

"Please…" Aphrodite did the puppy dog face without turning into a puppy.

"Fine," The god of war settled.

"Ha, she didn't even have to turn into a puppy for you to agree. Pathetic," Annabeth derided. Ares stuck his tongue out at her.

"Real mature," She responded. Hephaestus and Ares walked apprehensively towards the bathroom door at the beginning of the right hallway. Ares grasped the doorknob. They both closed their eyes and plugged their noses as they both rushed inside and shut the door. For a few seconds, everything was quiet. All eyes were at the bathroom door.

"MOTHER OF KRONOS, WHAT IS THAT?!" Hephaestus's voice shouted from inside the small room.

"OH GODS, MY EYES! MY NOSE! IM DYING!" Ares's voice called out.

"AGH! IT'S MOVING! WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE!"

The doorknob rattled. "DANG IT, ARES! WHY'D YOU LOCK THE DOOR?!"

"Chill out, I locked it from the inside. Let me just turn the little thing then we'll be out."

There was a loud clicking noise and the sound of something metal hitting the floor.

"YOU JUST PULLED OUT THE LOCK, IDIOT!"

"I KNOW! GUY'S LET US OUT!"

"Ares?"

"Yeah?"

"Look at your foot. T-The t-thing is on y-your f-f-foot."

A very girlish scream escaped the bathroom.

"Ares? Ares? Ares, wake up, man… Ares? Thanks a lot, dude. Now it's just me and the thi- OH MAMA, ITS ON ME!"

Another girlish scream escaped the bathroom. There was silence. Nothing else.

"Are you happy, Leo?" Aphrodite asked him. "You just killed two gods."

"But they're not dead. I mean, they are gods aren't they? They can't die," Leo retorted.

"Don't use that tone with me mister!"

"What tone?"

"You're a bad boy and you need to be dealt with. Now go sit in the corner and think about your life."

"But-"

Aphrodite hit him with a rolled up newspaper. "Bad boy. Corner. Now."

"But-"

"Don't make me get out the squirty squirts."

Leo sighed and walked to the corner and sat down facing the wall. The whole group was sitted in the back of the room, so the corner was just a few feet away.

"Since when did you get so authoritative?" Athena questioned Aphrodite.

"I'm technically his step-mom."

"Right. Let's get back to the book."

**I mean, the Converse hi-top came off. The inside was filled with Styrofoam, except for a hoof-shaped hole.**

"Im sure that's comes in useful, eh Grover?" Hermes asked.

"Quite."

**"Oh, Styx!" he mumbled. Thunder rolled across the clear sky.**

"Guity," Zeus raised his hands as a surrendering gesture.

**As he struggled to get his hoof back in the fake foot, I thought, well, that settles it. Grover was a satyr.**

"We already established this," Artemis reminded.

**I was ready to bet that if I shaved his curly brown hair, I'd find tiny horns on his head.**

"You would."

**But I was too miserable to care that satyrs existed,**

"Well that's rude," Grover frowned.

**or even Minotaurs. All that meant was my mom had been squeezed into nothingness, dissolved into yellow light.**

"_Not quite,"_ Hades thought. He already knew what his book-self was planning to do. He had already figured out the plot of the book.

**I was alone. An orphan.**

"Dramatic," Hermes sang.

**I would have to live with . . . Smelly Gabe?**

"Over my dead body," Poseidon refused.

**No. That would never happen. I would live on the streets first.**

"Or just stay at camp," Annabeth suggested.

**I would pretend I was seventeen and join the army.**

The whole room drowned in the sound of Dionysus's laughter. "I'm sorry it's just that-"

He cackled even louder and waved his hand telling them to read on.

**I'd do something. Grover was still sniffling. The poor kid-poor goat, satyr, whatever-looked as if he expected to be hit. I said, "It wasn't your fault."**

"_But mine,"_ Hades was still deep in thought.

**"Yes, it was. I was supposed to protect you."**

**"Did my mother ask you to protect me?"**

**"No. But that's my job. I'm a keeper. At least . . . I was.**

**Don't strain yourself," Grover said. "Here."**

**He helped me hold my glass and put the straw to my lips.** **I recoiled at the taste, because I was expecting apple juice.**

"But it was actually nymph pee, wasn't it?" Travis assumed.

**It wasn't that at all.**

"Well okay then."

**It was my chocolate-chip cookies. Liquid cookies.** **And not just any cookies-but my mom's homemade blue chocolate-chip cookies, buttery and hot, with the chips still melting.**

"Now I'm hungry," Apollo moaned.

"We just ate," Artemis reminded him.

"So?"

**Drinking it, my whole body felt warm and good, full of energy. **

**My grief didn't go away, but I felt as if my mom had just brushed her hand against my cheek, given me a cookie the way she used to when I was small, and told me everything was going to be okay.**

"This is getting real cheesy, real fast," Dionysus grumbled.

"I think its sweet," Aphrodite decided.

"I think you're annoying," Dionysus heckled. Aphrodite crossed her arms at that.

**Before I knew it, I'd drained the glass. I stared into it, sure I'd just had a warm drink, but the ice cubes hadn't even melted.**

"That doesn't even- what?"

**"Was it good?" Grover asked.**

**I nodded.**

**"What did it taste like?" He sounded so wistful, I felt guilty.**

**"Sorry," I said. "I should've let you taste."**

"That wouldn't be a good idea."

**His eyes got wide. "No! That's not what I meant. I just . . . wondered."**

**"Chocolate-chip cookies," I said. "My mom's. Homemade."**

"Real cheesy, real fast," Dionysus repeated.

**He sighed. "And how do you feel?"**

**"Like I could throw Nancy Bobofit a hundred yards."**

**"That's good," He said. "That's good; I don't think you could risk drinking any more of that stuff."**

**"What do you mean?"**

**He took the empty glass from me gingerly, as if it were dynamite, and set it back on the table. "Come on. Chiron and Mr. D are waiting."**

"It's about time I join this dumb story," Dionysus said.

**The porch wrapped all the way around the farmhouse.** **My legs felt wobbly, trying to walk that far. Grover offered to carry the Minotaur horn, but I held on to it.**

**I'd paid for that souvenir the hard way.**

Annabeth grimaced, remembering how he got it.

**I wasn't going to let it go.** **As we came around the opposite end of the house, I caught my breath.**

**We must've been on the north shore of Long Island, because on this side of the house, the valley marched all the way up to the water, which glittered about a mile in the distance. Between here and there, I simply couldn't process everything I was seeing.**

The campers grinned at the mention of their camp.

**The landscape was dotted with buildings that looked like ancient Greek architecture-an open-air pavilion, and amphitheater, a circular arena- except that they all looked brand new, their white marble columns sparkling in the sun. In a nearby sandpit, a dozen high school-age kids and satyrs played volleyball.**

"Ah, my home skillets," Grover grinned playfully.

**Canoes glided across a small lake. Kids in bright orange T-shirts like Grover's were chasing each other around a cluster of cabins nestled in the woods. Some shot targets at an archery range.**

"Mah kids!" Apollo beamed.

**Others rode horses down a wooded trail, and, unless I was hallucinating, some of their horses had wings. Down at the end of the porch, two men sat across from each other at a card table. The blond-haired girl who'd spoon-fed me popcorn-flavored pudding was leaning on the porch rail next to them.**

Aphrodite wiggled her eyebrows at Annabeth. She turned away.

**The man facing me was small, but porky. He had a red nose, big watery eyes, and curly hairs so black it was almost purple. He looked like those paintings of baby angels-what do you call them, hubbubs? No, cherubs. That's it. He looked like a cherub who'd turn middle-aged in a trailer park.**

"Who-who did he just describe?" Dionysus's eyes were murderous.

"Your stanky face!" The Stolls guffawed. Dionysus looked like he was about to send the two brothers to Tartarus, but Zeus cleared his throat and Dionysus knew not to disobey Zeus. The Stolls looked smug. The god of wine planned to punish them severely when they got back to camp.

**He wore a tiger-pattern Hawaiian shirt, and he would've fit right in one of Gabe's poker party, except I got the feeling this guy could've out-gambled even my step father**

"Ha, no doubt," Dionysus gloated.

**"That's Mr. D." Grover murmured to me. "He's the camp director. Be polite.**

"Be very polite."

**The girl, that's Annabeth Chase. She's just a camper, but she's been here longer than just about anybody.**

"Quite indeed," Annabeth beamed.

**And you already know Chiron . . ."**

"But as Mr. Brunner," Hestia added.

**He pointed at the guy whose back was to me.** **First, I realized he was sitting in the wheelchair. Then I recognized the tweed jacket, the thinning brown hair, the scraggly beard.**

**"Mr. Brunner!" I cried.**

**The Latin teacher turned and smiled at me. His eyes had that mischievous glint they sometimes got in class when he pulled a pop quiz and made all the multiple choice **_**B**_**.**

"Why _B_?" Piper asked.

"B for Brunner… I'm guessing," Thalia replied.

**"Ah, good, Percy. Now we have four for pinochle."**

"I still don't know how to play," Nico revealed.

**He offered me a chair to the right of Mr. D, who looked at me with bloodshot eyes and heaved a great sigh. "Oh, I suppose I must say it. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood. There. Now, don't expect me to be glad to see you."**

"Someone's a little grumpy," Kronos observed.

"I'm always grumpy," Dionysus grumbled.

"Now you admit it."

"I admitted that a long time ago. Are you new here?"

"Sort of."

"Remind me to get someone to help you catch up in whats going on."

"Why can't you just do it?"

"'Cause I don't feel like it."

"Wow. Grumpy and Lazy."

**"Uh, thanks." I scooted a little farther away from him because if there was something I had learned from living with Gabe, it as how to tell when an adult had been hitting the happy juice.**

**If Mr. D was a stranger to alcohol, I was a satyr.**

**"Annabeth?" Mr. Brunner called to the blond girl.**

"I have a name, too, you know," Annabeth notified crossly.

**She came forward and Mr. Brunner introduced us. "This young lady nursed you back to health, Percy.**

"A thank you would be polite," Athena stated.

"It's fine, mother," Her daughter informed.

**Annabeth, my dear, why don't you go check on Percy's bunk? We'll be putting him in cabin eleven for now."**

"The best cabin there is," Hermes boasted.

**Annabeth said, "Sure, Chiron."**

**She was probably my age, maybe a couple of inches taller, and a whole lot more athletic looking. With her deep tan and her curly blond hair, she was almost exactly what I thought a stereotypical California girl would look like, except her eyes ruined the image.**

"Umm… what?" Annabeth was offended and somewhat amused. "What's wrong with my eyes? Should I get contacts?"

"No, no," Thalia assured. "You're fine. He doesn't know what he's talking about."

"I'm still going to ask him what he meant, the next time I see him, though."

**They were startling gray, like storm clouds; pretty,**

Annabeth's cheeks turned lightly red. Everyone except Athena and Dionysus was wiggling their eyebrows at her.

**but intimidating, too, as if she were analyzing the best way to take me down in a fight.**

"Not really the thing I was thinking about, but sure," the daughter of Athena accepted.

**She glanced at the Minotaur horn in my hands, then back at me. I imagined she was going to say, **_**you killed a Minotaur! **_**Or **_**Wow, you're so awesome! **_**Or something like that.**

"Don't get ahead of yourself, bud," Athena snorted.

**Instead she said, "You drool when you sleep."**

"Wow," Thalia said flatly. "High five."

Annabeth accepted.

**Then she sprinted off down the lawn, her blond hair flying behind her.**

"And so it begins," Aphrodite smiled.

**"So," I said, anxious to change the subject, "You, uh, work here, Mr. Brunner?"**

**"Not Mr. Brunner," the ex-Mr. Brunner said. "I'm afraid that was a ps- psyoo-psei-**

"Pseudonym."

"Thanks."

**"I'm afraid that was a pseudonym. You may call me Chiron."**

**"Okay." Totally confused, I looked at the director. "And Mr. D . . . does that stand for something?"**

Dionysus scoffed at Percy's naiveté.

**Mr. D stopped shuffling the cards. He looked at me like I'd just belched loudly. "Young man, names are powerful things. You don't just go around using them for no reason."**

**"I must say, Percy," Chiron-Brunner broke in, "I'm glad to see you alive. It's been a long time since I've made a house call to a potential camper. I'd hate to think I've wasted my time."**

**"House call?"**

**"My year at Yancy Academy, to instruct you. We have satyrs at most schools, of course, keeping a lookout. But Grover alerted me as soon as he met you. He sensed you were something special,**

"And his ego grows even bigger."

**so I decided to come upstate. I convinced the other Latin teacher to . . . ah, take a leave of absence."**

"Chiron probably turned into a centaur and made the guy faint," Connor predicted.

**I tried to remember the beginning of the school year. It seemed like so long ago, but I did have a fuzzy memory of there being another Latin teacher my first week at Yancy. Then, without explanation, he had disappeared and Mr. Brunner had taken the class.**

"See?"

**"You came to Yancy just to teach me?" I asked.**

"There it is again."

**Chiron nodded. "Honestly, I wasn't sure about you at first. We contacted your mother; let her know we were keeping an eye on you in case you were ready for Camp Half-Blood. But you still had so much to learn. Nevertheless, you made it here alive, and that's always the first test."**

"That one is pretty much the hardest," Clarisse specified.

**"Grover," Mr. D said impatiently, "are you playing or not?"**

"Do you even know how to play?" Nico enquired to Grover.

"Sort of."

"Lucky."

**"Yes, sir!" Grover trembled as he took the fourth chair, though I didn't know why he should be so afraid of a pudgy little man in a tiger-print Hawaiian shirt.**

"Oh, you'll see," Dionysus rubbed his hands evilly. "You'll see quite soon."

**"You do know how to play pinochle?" Mr. D eyed me suspiciously.**

**"I'm afraid not," I said.**

"Yes!" Nico pumped his fist in the air. "Not the only one!"

**"I'm afraid not, sir," he said.**

"Come on, man. Don't be a wad," Apollo nudged Dionysus.

"When isn't he a wad?" Hermes contradicted. Dionysus frowned, but didn't say anything.

**"Sir," I repeated. I was liking the camp director less and less.**

**"Well," he told me, "it is, along with gladiator fighting and Pac-Man, one of the greatest games ever invented by humans.**

"I very much disagree," Connor disputed.

"Oh really," Dionysus asked rhetorically. So they both began an argument on if Pac-Man is better than Minecraft or not.

**I would expect all civilized young men to know the rules."**

**"I'm sure the boy can learn," Chiron said.**

**"Please," I said, "what is this place? What am I doing here? Mr. Brun-Chiron-why would you go to Yancy Academy just to teach me?"**

"Because you're a friggin' demigod," Clarisse snapped. "Can we get to the explanation a bit faster?"

**Mr. D snorted. "I asked the same question."**

**The camp director dealt the cards; Grover flinched every time one landed on his pile.**

"What's up with you?" Thalia asked Grover.

"Meh, I really was a little wimp back then," Grover chuckled.

**Chiron smiled at me sympathetically, the way he used to in Latin class, as if to let me know that no matter what my average was, I was his star student. He expected me to have the right answer.**

"Pretty high expectations," Annabeth laughed.

**"Percy," he said. "Did you mother tell you nothing?"**

"I would hope not," Hera answered.

**"She said . . ." I remembered her sad eyes, looking out over the sea. "She told me she was afraid to send me here, even though my father had wanted her to. She said that once I was here, I probably couldn't leave. She wanted to keep me close to her."**

"Dramatic," Apollo sang.

**"Typical," Mr. D said. "That's how they usually get killed.**

"Aren't you a little ray of hate," Hermes noticed.

"I do my best," Dionysus responded. He'd finished his argument a few seconds before. Nico had lost because Dionysus threatened to turn him into a dolphin if they continued arguing.

**Young man, are you bidding or not?"**

**"What?" I asked.**

**He explained, impatiently, how you bid in pinochle, and so I did.**

**"I'm afraid there's too much to tell," Chiron said. "I'm afraid our usual orientation film won't be sufficient."**

**"Orientation film?" I asked.**

"I remember seeing that. It kinda blows," Nico comented.

"Hey! I made that film," Dionysus protested.

"That explains everything."

**"No," Chiron decided. "Well, Percy. You know your friend Grover is a satyr. You know"-he pointed to the horn in the shoe box-"that you have killed the Minotaur. No small feat, either lad.**

"Pretty small compared to me," Zeus boasted.

"Dad…" said Thalia.

"Just saying."

**What you may not know is that great powers are at work in your life. Gods-the forces you call the Greek gods-are very much alive."**

"Don't forget the Titans," Kronos called out.

**I stared at the others around the table.**

**I waited for somebody to yell, **_**Not!**_

"He probably thinks he's getting Punk'd," Apollo assumed.

**But all I got was Mr. D yelling, "Oh, a royal marriage. Trick! Trick!" He cackled as he tallied up his points.**

**"Mr. D," Grover asked timidly, "if you're not going to eat it, can I have your Diet Coke can?"**

"Metal will botch-up your stomach, eat my brand new Wheat Flakes instead," Demeter enunciated as if she'd rehearsed this-which she did. She pulled out a cereal box labeled 'Wheat Flakes'. The other gods clapped and applauded for Demeter.

"What just happened?" Annabeth inquired.

"I'm going to be launching an ad for Wheat flakes with Hephaestus later. That is, if he is alive," Demeter announced.

"I'm not buying that," Connor rejected.

**"Eh? Oh, all right."**

**Grover bit a huge shard out of the empty aluminum can and chewed it mournfully.**

**"Wait," I told Chiron. "You're telling me there's such a thing as God."**

**"Well, now," Chiron said. "God-capital G, God. That's a different matter altogether. We shan't deal with the metaphysical."**

"Shant?"

**"Metaphysical? But you were just talking about-"**

**"Ah, gods, plural, as in, great beings that control the forces of nature and human endeavors: the immortal gods of Olympus. That's a smaller matter."**

Kronos went up in a fit of laughter.

"Well, that's rude," Athena noted.

**"Smaller?"**

**"Yes, quite. The gods we discussed in Latin class."**

**"Zeus," I said. "Hera. Apollo. You mean them."**

The three gods hi-fived each other because they were mentioned.

**And there it was again-distant thunder on a cloudless day.**

**"Young man," said Mr. D, "I would really be less casual about throwing those names around, if I were you."**

**"But they're stories," I said. "They're-myths, to explain lightning and the seasons and stuff. They're what people believed before there was science."**

"That is also rude, if not, more," Athena stated.

**"Science!" Mr. D scoffed. "And tell me, Perseus Jackson"**

"Ooo full name! You're in trouble now!" Connor exclaimed.

**-I flinched when he said my real name, which I never told anybody-**

**"What will people think of your 'science' two thousand years from now?" Mr. D continued. "Hmm? They will call it primitive mumbo jumbo.****That's what. Oh, I love mortals-they have absolutely no sense of perspective. They think they've come so-o-o far.**

"Well we have, though," Thalia objected. "We can cure most diseases with just a small oval or a filled syringe."

" I can do that with just my hands, but I do admit that your species has reached high levels of knowledge," Apollo confessed.

**And have they, Chiron? Look at this boy and tell me."**

"But you can't just judge all of humanity by one twelve year old boy. That would be imprudent," Athena arbitrated.

**I wasn't liking Mr. D much, but there was something about the way he called me mortal, as if . . . he wasn't.**

"And you, Percy, are just incompetent," Athena judged.

"_I can prove you wrong_," Annabeth thought. "_Should I tell her? Percy would get mad, though. What to do, what to do."_

**It was enough to put a lump in my throat, to suggest why Grover was dutifully minding his cards, chewing his soda can, and keeping his mouth shut.**

**"Percy," Chiron said, "you may choose to believe or not, but the fact is that immortal mean immortal. Can you imagine that for a moment, never dying? Never fading? Existing, just as you are, for all time?"**

"Of course he could," Annabeth involuntarily said aloud. She blushed at the memory.

"What do you mean?" Poseidon questioned her.

"Nothing, never mind."

**I was about to answer, off the top of my head, that it sounded like a pretty good deal, but the tone of Chiron's voice made me hesitate.**

**"You mean, whether people believed in you or not," I said.**

**"Exactly," Chiron agreed. "If you were a god, how would you like being called a myth, an old story to explain lightning? What if I told you, Perseus Jackson, that someday people would call you a myth, just created to explain how little boys can get over losing their mothers?"**

A few jaws dropped. Some covered their mouths.

Apollo turned to Dionysus, "I don't know if I should smack you or hi-five you. That was harsh, but excellent."

**My heart pounded. He was trying to make me angry for some reason, but I wasn't going to let him.**

**"I wouldn't like it. But I don't believe in gods."**

"Awful stubborn aren't you?"

**"Oh, you'd better," Mr. D murmured. "Before one of them incinerates you."**

"Ha, not if I'm still here," Poseidon chuckled heartily.

**Grover said, "P-please, sir. He's just lost his mother. He's in shock."**

**"A lucky thing, too," Mr. D grumbled, playing a card.**

"You should have chosen the smack, Apollo," Artemis decided.

**"Bad enough I'm confined to this miserable job, working with boys who don't even believe!"**

**He waved his hand and a goblet appeared on the table, as if the sunlight had bent, momentarily, and woven the air into glass. The goblet filled itself with red wine.**

"Ah ah ah,"Zeus warned.

**My jaw dropped, but Chiron hardly looked up. **

**"Mr. D," he warned, "your restrictions."**

**Mr. D looked at the wine and feigned surprise.**

**"Dear me." He looked at the sky and yelled, "Old habits! Sorry!"**

"Pshaw, that was deliberate."

**More thunder.**

**Mr. D waved his hand again and the wineglass changed into a fresh can of Diet Coke. He sighed unhappily, popped the top of the soda, and went back to his card game.**

**Chiron winked at me. "Mr. D offended his father a while back, took a fancy to a wood nymph who had been declared off-limits."**

"Ooo, does Ariadne know about this?" Aphrodite fussed.

"Of course she does. You should see the red handprint she made on my back," Dionysus chuckled.

"After all those years, shouldn't it have worn off by now?"

"Well yeah, it _should _have."

**"A wood nymph," I repeated, still staring at the Diet Coke can like it was from outer space.**

**"Yes," Mr. D confessed. "Father loves to punish me.**

"Guilty," Zeus smiled.

**The first time. Prohibition. Ghastly! Absolutely horrid ten years! The second time-well, she was pretty, and I couldn't stay away-the second time. He sent me here. Half-Blood Hill. Summer camp for brats like you. 'Be a better influence,' he told me. 'Work with youths rather than tearing them down.' Ha! Absolutely unfair."**

"Don't blame me," Zeus held his hands up. "Blame Hera, she told me to. 'You'll be a better father and Dionysus will change'. Well I don't see any change here."

"Hey," Hera and Dionysus shouted.

**Mr. D sounded about six years old, like a pouting little kid.**

**"And . . ." I stammered, "your father is . . ."**

**"Di immortals, Chiron," Mr. D said. "I thought you taught this boy the basics. My father is Zeus, of course."**

**I ran through D names from Greek mythology. Wine. The skin of a tiger. The satyrs seemed to work here. They way Grover cringed, as if Mr. D were his master.**

**"You're Dionysus," I said. "The god of wine."**

"Finally, after ten years he figures it out," Thalia noted.

**Mr. D rolled his eyes. "What do they say, these days, Grover? Do the children say, "Well, duh!'?"**

**"Y-yes, Mr. D."**

**"Then, well, duh! Percy Jackson. Did you think I was Aphrodite, perhaps?"**

"Not in a million eons," Aphrodite gasped.

**"You're a god."**

**"Yes, child."**

**"A god. You."**

The gods -excluding Dionysus- chuckled.

**He turned to look at me straight on and I saw a kind of purplish fire in his eyes, a hint that this whiny, plump little man was only showing me the tiniest bit of his true nature. I saw visions of grape vines choking unbelievers to death, drunken warriors insane with battle lust, sailors screaming as their hands turned to flippers, their faces elongating into dolphin snouts. I knew that if I pushed him, Mr. D would show me worse things. He would plant a disease in my brain that would leave me wearing a strait jacket in a rubber room for the rest of my life.**

"I have no words."

**"Would you like to test me, child?" he said quietly.**

**"No. No, sir."**

"The little 'sir' thing worked."

**The fire died a little. He turned back to his card game. "I believe I win."**

**"Not quite, Mr. D," Chiron said. He set down a straight, tallied the points, and said, "The game goes to me."**

**I thought Mr. D was going to vaporize Chiron right out of his wheelchair, but he just sighed through his nose, as if he were used to being beaten by the Latin teacher.**

"I am, sadly."

**He got up, and Grover rose, too.**

**"I'm tired," Mr. D said. "I believe I'll take a nap before the sing-along tonight. But first, Grover, we need a talk, again, about your less-than-perfect performance on this assignment."**

"He wasn't that bad," Thalia tried. "At least he did better than I did."

"Being a tree for part of your life is a perfectly normal part of a girl's life," Annabeth tried to cheer Thalia up with humor. Thalia smiled at her.

**Grover's face beaded with sweat. "Y-yes sir."**

**Mr. D turned to me. "Cabin eleven, Percy Jackson. And mind your manners."**

"The word manners only recently made its way into his dictionary," Nico stated.

**He swept into the farmhouse, Grover following miserably.**

**"Will Grover be okay?" I asked Chiron.**

**Chiron nodded, though he looked a bit troubled. "Old Dionysus isn't really mad. He just hates his job. He's been . . . ah, grounded, I guess you would say, and he can't stand waiting another century before he's allowed to go back to Olympus."**

"Ha, grounded. I remember the days when I got grounded. Except it wasn't for chasing trees," Annabeth giggled.

**"Mount Olympus," I said. "You're telling me there really is a place there?"**

**"Well now, there's Mount Olympus in Greece. And then there's the home of the gods, the convergence point of their powers, which did indeed used to be on Mount Olympus. It's still called Mount Olympus, out of respect to the old ways, but the palace moves, Percy, just as the gods do."**

**"You mean the Greek gods are here? Like . . . in America?"**

"Totes."

**"Well, certainly. The gods move with the heart of the west."**

**"The what?"**

**"Come on, Percy. What you call 'Western civilization.' Do you think it's just an abstract concept? No, it's a living force. A collective consciousness that has burned bright for thousands of years. The gods are part of it. You might even say they are the source of it, or at least, they are tied to tightly to it that they couldn't possibly fade, not unless all of Western civilization were obliterated. The fire started in Greece. Then, as you well know-or as I hope you know, since you passed my course-the heart of the fire moved to Rome, and so did the gods. Oh, different names, perhaps-Jupiter for Zeus, Venus for Aphrodite, and so on-but the same forces, the same gods."**

**"And then they died."**

"Not technically," Athena disagreed

**"Died? No. Did the West die? The gods simply moved, to Germany, to France, to Spain, for a while. Wherever the flame was brightest, the gods were there. They spent several centuries in England. All you need to do is look at the architecture.****People do not forget the gods. Every place they've ruled, for the last three thousand years, you can see them in paintings, in statues, on the most important buildings. And yes, Percy, of course they are now in your United States. Look at your symbol, the eagle of Zeus.**

"I thought the eagle was for independence and Zeus is most definitely not independent," Katie pondered.

"Hey!"

"Just saying."

**Look at the statue of Prometheus and Rockefeller Center, the Greek facades of your government buildings in Washington. I defy you to find any American city where the Olympians are not prominently displayed in multiple places. Like it or not-and believe me, plenty of people weren't very fond of Rome,**

"Nooo! Why!" Jason shouted.

**either-America is now the heart of the flame.**

**It is the great power of the West. And so Olympus is here. And we are here."**

**It was all too much, especially the fact that I seemed to be included in Chiron's we, as if I were part of some club.**

"Ooo club Chiron! Can I join?" Leo asked timidly.

"No! Stay in the corner!" Aphrodite yelled.

"Aww."

**"Who are you, Chiron? Who . . . who am I?"**

"You're my mother," Apollo stated flatly.

"I'm not surprised," Athena told him.

**Chiron smiled. He shifted his weight as if he were going to get up out of his wheelchair, but I knew that was impossible.**

"You think a lot of things are impossible," Clarisse noted.

**He was paralyzed from the waist down.**

**"Who are you?" he mused. "Well, that's the question we all want answered, isn't it?** **But for now, we should get you a bunk in cabin eleven. There will be new friends to meet.**

"All except one," Travis whispered to his brother.

**And plenty of time for lessons tomorrow. Besides, there will be s'mores at the campfire tonight, and I simply adore chocolate."**

"Chocolate is almighty."

**And he did rise from his wheelchair. But there was something odd about the way he did it. His blanket fell away from his legs, but the legs didn't move. His waist kept getting longer, rising above his belt. At first, I thought he was wearing very long, white velvet underwear,**

"Uh, is that healthy?"

**but as he kept rising out of the chair, taller than any man, I realized that the velvet underwear wasn't underwear; it was the front of an animal, muscle and sinew under coarse white fur. And the wheelchair wasn't a chair. It was some kind of container, an enormous box on wheels, and it must've been magic, because there's no way it could've held all of him. A leg came out, long and knobby-kneed, with a huge polished hoof.**

"Oh my," Clarisse feigned shock.

**Then another front leg, then hindquarters, and then the box was empty, nothing but a metal shell with a couple of fake human legs attached. I stared at the horse who had just sprung from the wheelchair: a huge white stallion. But where its neck should be was the upper body of my Latin teacher, smoothly grafted to the horse's trunk.**

**"What a relief," the centaur said. "I'd been cooped up in there so long, my fetlocks had fallen asleep, Now, come, Percy Jackson. Let's meet the other campers."**

"That's it," Connor stated.

* * *

**Hey guys. Hmm…nothing to talk about. Well, then. Let's just skip to thy question.**

**Question Time: Do you believe in fate or luck?**

**We'll be getting back to Percy, Catherine and Emma in the upcoming chapter. Deuces!**


	11. Daddy Issues

**Chapter Eleven**

**If you're not Bookworm, Allen R or HuntressofArtemis192, then just skip over to the part which starts with "My Response" or skip ahead to the story.**

**First off, this is for Bookworm: You are a genius! I never really thought of throwing in one of those books. For this I'll give a cameo. Who are your favorite Olympians? Thanks again for the idea.**

**Secondly, this is for Allen R: Sorry, I can't bring the real, full Annabeth, but I can have her show up in an IM. This is mainly because the story just started and I don't want to do anything too rash. Thanks for the suggestion, though.**

**Thirdly for HuntressofArtemis192: That is an excellent suggestion.**

**My response to last week's question: I would have to go with a1993 on this one; a combination of both.**

* * *

It began to rain. Percy, Catherine and Emma stood in the empty parking lot.

"What now?" Catherine asked.

"Um…," Percy looked around. The rain was giving him sharper senses. He stared into the forest directly across from them. Something told him to go there. The feeling got stronger the longer he stood there. "C'mon, over here."

"Where?" Catherine questioned.

"Just follow me," Percy broke into a run. Catherine grabbed Emma's hand and plunged into the woods after Percy. Percy stopped once he was within the tree border. The bark on the trees were quite rough and coarse. The wind picked up and made the branches sway. Percy looked through the maze of trees and spotted the clue. The clue that his instinct was correct. There was at tree that was waving in the opposite direction that the others were waving in.

Percy took off towards the tree. As he got closer, the light around the tree bent and formed into a girl that looked about a year older than Emma.

"Whoa," Catherine gasped. The tree nymph stood watching the three. She turned around slowly as if expecting them to follow and ran off.

"She's leading us somewhere. Let's hurry before we lose her," Percy warned as he broke into a sprint. The nymph led them up the slope. She didn't even break a sweat. Lucky for them, the ground began to sweep downwards. The nymph headed for the lake that was directly meters away. She slowed down and came to a stop as they came increasingly closer. She waited for the three to catch up. When they did, she stretched her arm towards a huge chunk of rock. The middle of the rock crumbled inwards. As the dust from the breakage cleared, it turned out to be the mouth of a cave.

Percy peered into the cave. "Whoa. Its pitch black in there. Do you have a lantern or…?"

The nymph pointed at Catherine. Catherine raised her eyebrows, "Uhm, what-what do you mean?"

The light bent again and the nymph disappeared, leaving the faint scent of pines in the air.

"Thanks for answering my question," Catherine said sarcastically. A rogue wind swept overhead and knocked a pinecone from its branch. The pinecone tumbled onto Catherine's head.

"Ow!" she yelped. "That'll teach me not to be sarcastic to a tree."

Percy chuckled. "C'mon let's get inside."

The three entered the cave. The sounds of birds chirping and rainfall could no longer be heard. Only the light from the cave opening filtered inside. When they were completely inside, the opening collapsed, thus closing it completely shut, leaving no known ways of escape and no light. They were in complete darkness. Emma's grip tightened on Percy and Catherine's hands.

"We need light," Catherine stated. Her voice echoed slightly.

"The tree nymph gestured that it has something to do with you. It could tie in with who your godly parent is," as soon as Percy he realized who Catherine was. He became silent in thought.

"My godly parent? What do you mean? . . . . . Percy? Percy!? Hello?"

"Apollo."

"A-what-o?"

"Your father is Apollo. The god of light and prophecies."

"My father is not a god. He's just a regular guy."

"What about your mom?"

"She's also regular."

"What? That doesn't make any sense."

"Isn't it normal for a person to have regular parents?"

"Not for a person like you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"What I'm saying is-"

A blinding light filled the cave. The three were forced to shut their eyes. As the light decreased intensity a figure was standing in front of them. It was a man dressed in full Greek battle armor that glowed brightly. It wasn't bright enough to fill the whole cave, but bright enough to see the man and their own bodies. The man stepped towards them and removed his red plume crested helmet. It was him. Apollo himself. Percy got up and bowed respectfully.

Apollo found this amusing. "Please, no formalities, Percy."

"Who are you?" Catherine asked rudely. She got up, but did not bow.

Apollo looked at her nervously, as if she were the one dressed in battle armor.

"You don't remember me?"

"I've never seen you before in my life."

Apollo made eye contact with her and sent her a short memory. One that she had discarded and could not remember. In Catherine's mind the memory lasted for one minute, but only lasted one second in reality.

She froze. "_You! _ You're not Henry! Explain yourself!" Catherine pointed at Apollo with a shaky finger. Her eyes showed a mixture of hate, confusion and grief.

"No, no! Let me explain! Your mom and I had a falling out right after you were born. She told me to leave, so I did. A couple months later, she married Henry. They both took care of you instead of me. She lied to you, Cate. She made you think that Henry was me, your real father."

Catherine stood silently in thought.

"Catherine, I-"

"Then why didn't you show up?" Catherine had tears in her eyes. She grew angrier. "After seventeen years! After SEVENTEEN freaking years, now you have the guts to show up?!"

"I-"

"My mother- your freaking wife- treated me like crap! Do you even know what went on in that house?! Do you even know how much crap I had to go through! And then there's Henry. Who apparently is not even my real father! The fat drunk didn't even do anything to stop mom! He sat and cussed me out for the slightest thing that he didn't approve of!"

"I'm sorry; I didn't realize what you had to deal with."

"You're sorry? Oh, that fixes everything. You really think a dumb apology is going to patch up how much I hate you?"

Apollo was stunned at her response.

"Yeah, I said it. I freaking hate you! Get out of here!"

"Catherine-"

"I really don't want to deal with you any longer. Just leave."

Apollo sighed. Before he could leave, he reached up to touch her forehead to claim her.

Catherine pushed his hand away, but the deed was already done. "Don't touch me! Leave!"

Apollo looked down at little Emma who was holding Percy's hand. "Your time isn't today. Maybe someday." He whispered. With that said, the light bent and he was gone. The cave was lit. There were torches lit on the walls of the cave. Catherine went to the corner and sat with her head between her knees and sobbed.

Percy went and sat by her side. "Are you okay?"

"Leave me alone, Percy," She sobbed. Percy didn't talk anymore. They sat in silence. A minute late, he got up and dug a blanket out from his backpack. He covered Catherine with it. He took a few minutes to examine his surroundings. He realized that they were in a Half-Blood hideout. There was a weapon rack on the left side and supplies on the right. The cave was quite small. It was about the size of Nico's Cabin, which was the smallest cabin in Camp.

"Um, Emma and I are going to get something to eat. We'll bring you some. See you."

Catherine didn't respond. Percy went to the collapsed entrance and began to remove the chunks of rock. Emma helped him take out the little rocks. After twelve minutes of tiring work. The entryway was cleared. Percy and Emma took a few steps out into the forest.

"So, what do you want to eat? We could go back uphill and see if there are any restaurants or we could eat food from the wilderness," Percy asked Emma.

"Wilderness! Wilderness!" She chanted.

"Well, okay. You're six years old and already eating healthier than me. Hmm, I have no clue where to start."

Percy tried to think of where to begin. He got a sudden idea. "O Fleecy do me a solid. Show me Annabeth Chase at Mount Olympus."

Nothing happened for the first few seconds. The air distorted and light began to appear. A floating image of Annabeth reading a book with the title of "Lord of the Flies" appeared. She seemed completely unaware of what was happening.

"Hey, stranger!" Percy called.

Annabeth lowered her book and glanced into her side of the iris message. Her lips broke into a grin. "Hey, Perce."

"Hey, I need your help."

"About time."

"What, you thought I wouldn't be able to go through the entire quest without asking you for help?"

"Basically. . ."

"Well, you're correct."

"So what's the prob?"

"Emma and I- say hi, Emma." Percy nudged Emma in front of him.

"Hi, Emma," Annabeth waved. The little girl waved Back at Annabeth.

"Anyway, do you have an idea of how to make a meal from the forestry out here?"

"Hmm, sounds like a Demeter kind of problem. You should have IM'd Katie or something."

"But I didn't want to IM Katie."

Annabeth's cheeks turned an unnoticeable shade of pink. "Well, okay. Let's start with where you're going to put the foods we find. Find a fallen tree and scrape off a chunk of bark."

Lucky for them, there was a felled tree up the hill above the entrance of the cave. Percy went up to the tree and uncapped Riptide. He sliced through the tree. It was as if cutting butter. He made two cuts through the tree and made a small log about a foot long. He cut the log into six two inch thick discs. He then used the top part of the blade to make one side of each disc curved in so they looked like makeshift wooden plates.

"That works too," Annabeth commented, mildly impressed.

"What's next?" Percy asked.

"Um, let's look for some edible plants. The lake behind you would be a good place to start."

Percy nodded. He stuffed the plates in his backpack and headed to the lake with Emma. The iris message followed.** (I really have no idea if Iris messages can be portable)** Percy stood at the edge of the water. Tall weeds grew around and partly in the lake.

"Ooh, there's some Cattail over there in the weeds," Annabeth pointed at some tall, thin stemmed plants with brown bushy rods at the top of them.

"Corn dog plants?" Percy asked incredulously.

"They do kind of look like corn dogs. . . . anyways, pull them out and wash the roots in the water."

Percy did as he was told. He pulled out three of them and washed their roots. His power over water made the job done quicker.

"Next let's look for any clovers or dandelions you can find."

Percy put the Cattails in the side pocket on his backpack. He looked for an open field. He gazed across the lake. At the other end, the trees were parted. He couldn't really see anything else behind that.

"I think there's a field on the other side of the lake. Let's go around," Percy noted. They wandered along, making sure to be within close range of the lake in case they got lost. A sudden howl ripped through the silence of the woods.

"Wolves," Annabeth whispered. Percy grabbed Emma's hand and they made a steady jog towards the field. After a few minutes of jogging, they made it to the field. It seemed to be filled with sunflowers and dandelions.

"Are sunflowers edible?" Percy asked Annabeth.

"Yeah, but they taste terrible when they're cooked and you can't eat them raw or else you'll get sick."

"Oh. Hey Emma, start pulling out some clovers while I get the dandelions."

Emma nodded and began to hunt for the little plants. Percy began plucking out dandelions. Minutes later, Emma cried out Percy's name. He rushed over.

"Look what I found!" She showed Percy what was in her hand. It was a small green plant with four significant leaves. Percy picked up the clover and examined it.

"You know, they say that these are signs of good luck. I might have a place to for you to keep it," Percy dug through his backpack and pulled out a small jar. Emma happily put the clover in the jar. Percy put the lid on it and handed it to her.

"C'mon, let's go." Annabeth told them.

* * *

The way back to the other side of the lake seemed longer than before. Catherine would probably be worried of where they were. As they got closer to the area where the cave was, another howl was heard. This one was closer. Emma dropped the jar with the four leaf clover in fright. It rolled off into the bushes towards the sound of the howl.

"My clover!" Emma ran into the bushes after the jar.

"Emma!" Percy and Annabeth shouted. Percy uncapped Riptide and ran after her. Percy jumped through the bushes with the Iris message following him. Luckily, Emma was right beside him and had not ventured further because standing in front of them were three growling wolves. The jar was lying right under the middle wolf's chin. The creature sniffed it, but soon lost interest and continued glaring at Emma, Percy and Annabeth. The middle wolf approached menacingly. Percy stepped in front of Emma protectively.

The other two wolves started getting jumpy. The middle one snarled at them; motioning for them to halt. The middle wolf charged. Percy took a daring swipe with Riptide at the predator's muzzle. The Celestial Bronze went right through the wolf; causing no harm to the wolf at all. The wolf jumped back in shock. It regained its senses quickly and made a second charge at Percy. The force knocked Percy down.

"Percy!" Annabeth shouted. The left wolf noticed that she was still there and charged her. The wolf jumped through the IM and made the connection disappear. The wolf on the right charged Emma. She screamed. Meanwhile Percy was trying to shake off the middle wolf. Its jaws snapped at his face, narrowly missing. Percy grabbed its head and twisted it until he heard a satisfying "Crunch!" The wolf whimpered as its neck vertebrae snapped. Percy kicked the wolf's corpse off him. The two remaining wolves backed up and retreated to their fallen member's dead body. They sniffed the corpse, trying to decide if it was dead or not.

The wolves glared at Percy with extreme hatred. They both charged him. There was little that Percy could do to stop two furious wolves. They sunk their teeth into each of Percy's arms. Emma screamed. Dark red liquid painted the wolves' mouths. They began to shake their heads vigorously; trying to tear off Percy's arms. The blood drenched his shirt and dyed the ground red. Through Percy's eyes, all he could see was the sky. His vision slowly turned darker and the sky he was under turned from blue to grey. Now he couldn't see at all. All he could hear was the sound of Emma screaming. And even that started to diminish to a total silence. The strange thing is that it wasn't eerie. It was tranquil.

* * *

**Don't kill me. Just let me live the next chapter at least. Please? We're buds right? Moving on (Even though I'm kind of scared at the reviews I might get) I made a fiction press account. My Pen name is still Adventure Awaits. It's probably going to be ages from now when I actually post a story on there because I want to finish this and any other PJO fics I might do first. That is all.**

**Question Time: What would people say about you at your funeral?**


	12. Bad News (Authors Note)

**Hi. I, um, I've got some bad news, I wont be able to write for a couple more weeks. I really can't explain because its complicated. I will probably be back on here in late August, if not then September. And I'm really sorry, mostly because the previous chapter was a cliff and everything. So, uh, see you guys in August or September. Bye.**


	13. Miss Toilet Water Gurgler

Chapter Twelve

**My response: My old fifth period teacher: "Finally I can restock on pens." In seventh grade, I always stole pens from her little pen jar on her desk because somehow I almost never remembered to bring a pen to that class. And that was one of the only classes that we used pens every day. Warning: This chapter has an excessive amount of burritos. You have been warned. Watch out for your cameo, Bookworm!**

The wolf dove through the iris message, thus cutting the connection and forcing the image of light to degenerate. She sat back in in her chair, not really worried. Or frightened. Not really anything. She had no Idea what to think. Though, the common person would freak out if someone got attacked by three blood-thirsty wolves. She decided that she wasn't going to worry about it or even potentially lose sleep over it. If he could take down a Titan, then wolves should be a piece of cake. She left the room before she could change her mind.

The others had already gathered in the Throne room after their breaks. The book was in Katie's hands. Annabeth settled in next to Thalia.

"**I Become Supreme Lord of the Bathroom**," Katie recited.

A humorous grin peeked through Annabeth's lips. Unfortunate for her, Clarisse caught it.

"Shut it, Owl face," Clarisse snapped.

"Well, well. This should be an interesting chapter," Apollo smirked at Clarisse.

**Once I got over the fact that my Latin teacher was a horse, we had a nice tour, though I was careful not to walk behind him. I'd done pooper-scooper patrol in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade a few times, and, I'm sorry, but I did not trust Chiron's back end the way I trusted his front.**

"I don't think Chiron would just randomly poo-ahem, excrete internal waste like that," Athena assured. "Not without a warning at least."

**We passed the volleyball pit. Several of the campers nudged each other. One pointed to the Minotaur horn I was carrying. Another said, "That's **_**him**_**."**

"He's only been awake for a few hours at most, how do the others even know about him?" Poseidon pondered.

"Don't forget, he was out for two days. Maybe a certain blonde had been quite gossipy for those two days," Hermes reminded him.

"Guilty," Annabeth admitted.

**Most of the campers were older than me. Their satyr friends were bigger than Grover, all of them trotting around in orange CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-shirts, with nothing else to cover their bare shaggy hindquarters.**

"Lucky," Connor mumbled.

"What? You want to have shaggy legs?" Grover asked amusingly.

"No. I was talking about the no pants thing."

**I wasn't normally shy, but the way they stared at me made me uncomfortable. I felt like they were expecting me to do a flip or something.**

"Actually, we were waiting for you to turn into a dolphin . . . then do a flip," Travis stated.

"Dolphin, eh?" Mr. D inquired. "I can arrange that, you know. If you just-"

"We're going to pass on that offer," Poseidon interrupted.

**I looked back at the farmhouse. It was a lot bigger than I'd realized—four stories tall, sky blue with white trim, like an upscale seaside resort. I was checking out the brass eagle weather vane** **on top when something caught my eye, a shadow in the uppermost window of the attic gable.**

"What is she doing up?" Apollo asked to no one in particular.

**Something had moved the curtain, just for a second, and I got the distinct impression I was being watched.**

"Nah, she was probably just exercising. No oracle of mine is going to be fat," Apollo waved off.

**"What's up there?" I asked Chiron.**

**He looked where I was pointing, and his smile faded. "Just the attic."**

**"Somebody lives there?"**

**"No," he said with finality. "Not a single living thing."**

"Smart aleck.

**I got the feeling he was being truthful.****But I was also sure something had moved that curtain. "Come along, Percy," Chiron said, his lighthearted tone now a little forced. "Lots to see."**

**We walked through the strawberry fields, where campers were picking bushels of berries while a satyr played a tune on a reed pipe.**

**Chiron told me the camp grew a nice crop for export to New York restaurants and Mount Olympus. "It pays our expenses," he explained. "And the strawberries take almost no effort."**

"You're welcome," Katie blurted.

**He said Mr. D had this effect on fruit-bearing plants: they just went crazy when he was around.**

"Well," Mr.D smiled narcissistically and fixed his collar. "I suppose they do."

"Your best friend is a plant. Not something to be proud of, man," Hades noted. Dionysus glared.

**It worked best with wine grapes, but Mr. D was restricted from growing those, so they grew strawberries instead.**

**I watched the satyr playing his pipe. His music was causing lines of bugs to leave the strawberry patch in every direction, like refugees fleeing a fire. I wondered if Grover could work that kind of magic with music.**

"Pfft, please. That's child play," Grover scoffed.

**I wondered if he was still inside the farmhouse, getting chewed out by Mr. D.**

The said god had a sudden interest in the sleeve of his purple blazer.

**"Grover won't get in too much trouble, will he?" I asked Chiron. "I mean ... he was a good protector. Really."**

**Chiron sighed. He shed his tweed jacket and draped it over his horses back like a saddle.**

"Hint, hint," Nico urged.

**"Grover has big dreams, Percy. Perhaps bigger than are reasonable.**

"Excuse me? Bigger than reasonable?" Grover raised a brow.

"Calm down. He said perhaps," Annabeth assured.

Grover huffed. "Whatevs."

**To reach his goal, he must first demonstrate great courage by succeeding as a keeper, finding a new camper and bringing him safely to Half-Blood Hill."**

"Uh, that was his third time doing that. Successfully, that is," Katie argued.

**"But he did that!"**

**"I might agree with you," Chiron said. "But it is not my place to judge. Dionysus and the Council of Cloven Elders must decide.**

Everyone eyeballed Dionysus.

"What?" He questioned.

**I'm afraid they might not see this assignment as a success. After all, Grover lost you in New York.**

"That wasn't my fault. Just saying," Grover told them.

**Then there's the unfortunate ... ah ... fate of your mother.**

"Neither was that."

**And the fact that Grover was unconscious when you dragged him over the property line.**

"That might have been my fault."

**The council might question whether this shows any courage on Grover's part."**

"That's not fair. They're just focusing on the part when Grover fell unconscious," Athena protested.

**I wanted to protest. None of what happened was Grover's fault. I also felt really, really guilty. If I hadn't given Grover the slip at the bus station, he might not have gotten in trouble.**

"Well, I can't say that that's not true," Athena noted.

**"He'll get a second chance, won't he?"**

**Chiron winced. "I'm afraid that **_**was **_**Grover's second chance, Percy.**

"Youch," Apollo grimaced.

**The council was not anxious to give him another, either, after what happened the first time, five years ago.**

"What happened five years ago?" Piper asked.

"Let's just say that Thalia put on a lot of weight," Nico smirked.

Thalia smacked his shoulder. "Not funny."

**Olympus knows, I advised him to wait longer before trying again. He's still so small for his age..."**

**"How old is he?"**

**"Oh, twenty-eight."**

"Why don't you have a car, then?" Leo (Who was now out of the corner) asked Grover.

"I did once," Grover reminisced. "But my hoof broke the brake pedal and it was all downhill from there, literally."

"Ouch."

**"What! And he's in sixth grade?"**

**"Satyrs mature half as fast as humans, Percy. Grover has been the equivalent of a middle school student for the past six years."**

**"That's horrible."**

**"Quite," Chiron agreed. "At any rate, Grover is a late bloomer, even by satyr standards, and not yet very accomplished at woodland magic. Alas, he was anxious to pursue his dream. Perhaps now he will find some other career..."**

**"That's not fair," I said. "What happened the first time? Was it really so bad?"**

"Oh it was bad. You were the fattest camper," Nico elbowed Thalia playfully.

**Chiron looked away quickly. "Let's move along, shall we?"**

"Real subtle."

**But I wasn't quite ready to let the subject drop. Something had occurred to me when Chiron talked about my mother's fate, as if he were intentionally avoiding the word **_**death.**_

**The beginnings of an idea—a tiny, hopeful fire—started forming in my mind.**

"Oh dear."

**"Chiron," I said. "If the gods and Olympus and all that are real ..."**

**"Yes, child?"**

**"Does that mean the Underworld is real, too?"**

"This kid is crazy," Hades notified.

**Chiron's expression darkened.**

**"Yes, child." He paused, as if choosing his words carefully. "There is a place where spirits go after death. But for now ... until we know more ... I would urge you to put that out of your mind."**

"Pfft. As if."

**"What do you mean, 'until we know more'?"**

"I know more," Hades smirked.

**"Come, Percy. Let's see the woods."**

"Nice transition," Nico pointed out.

**As we got closer, I realized how huge the forest was. It took up at least a quarter of the valley, with trees so tall and thick, you could imagine nobody had been in there since the Native Americans.**

**Chiron said, "The woods are stocked, if you care to try your luck, but go armed."**

**"Stocked with what?" I asked. "Armed with what?"**

Dionysus rolled his eyes, "Armed with what? What do you think? Corn dogs?"

**"You'll see. Capture the flag is Friday night. Do you have your own **

"Burrito!"

**sword and **

"Side dish!"

**shield?"**

**"My own—?"**

"The kid just woke up a couple hours ago. You expect him to have a sword and shield with him?" Apollo inquired.

"Not Chiron's brightest hour," Hermes agreed.

**"No," Chiron said. "I don't suppose you do. I think a size five will do. I'll visit the armory later."**

**I wanted to ask what kind of summer camp had an armory, but there was too much else to think about, so the tour continued. We saw the archery range,**

"Woot!" Apollo grinned.

**the canoeing lake,**

Poseidon beamed.

**the stables (which Chiron didn't seem to like very much),** **the javelin range, the sing-along amphitheater, and the arena where Chiron said they held sword and spear fights.**

**"Sword and spear fights?" I asked.**

**"Cabin challenges and all that," he explained. "Not lethal. Usually.**

**Oh, yes, and there's the mess hall."**

**Chiron pointed to an outdoor pavilion framed in white Grecian columns on a hill overlooking the sea. There were a dozen stone picnic tables. No roof. No walls.**

**"What do you do when it rains?" I asked.**

"We eat, dummy."

**Chiron looked at me as if I'd gone a little weird.**

**"We still have to eat, don't we?" I decided to drop the subject.**

**Finally, he showed me the cabins. There were twelve of them,**

"Not anymore,' Nico muttered.

**nestled in the woods by the lake. They were arranged in a U, with two at the base and five in a row on either side. And they were without doubt the most bizarre collection of buildings I'd ever seen.**

"Hephaestus built it," Athena quickly pointed out.

"Whoa, whoa. Why put the heat on Hephaestus? As far as I remember, you made the blueprints," Poseidon noted.

"Why does it even matter? It's just one opinion. One stupid opinion from one stupid son of a-"

"Athena!"

"-biscuit…"

"Oh."

**Except for the fact that each had a large brass number above the door (odds on the left side, evens on the right),** **they looked absolutely nothing alike. Number nine had smokestacks, like a tiny factory.**

Leo would've smiled at his dad, but he was still trapped in the bathroom with Ares.

**Number four had tomato vines on the walls and a roof made out of real grass.**

Demeter beamed, as well as Katie.

**Seven seemed to be made of solid gold, which gleamed so much in the sunlight it was almost impossible to look at.**

Apollo fist bumped himself.

**They all faced a commons area about the size of a soccer field, dotted with Greek statues, fountains, flower beds, and a couple of basketball hoops (which were more my speed).**

"Atta boy," Apollo grinned.

**In the center of the field was a huge stone-lined fire pit. Even though it was a warm afternoon, the hearth smoldered. A girl about nine years old was tending the flames, poking the coals with a stick.**

Everybody turned to Hestia. She smiled shyly.

**The pair of cabins at the head of the field, numbers one and two, looked like his-and-hers mausoleums, big white marble boxes with heavy columns in front. Cabin one was the biggest and bulkiest of the twelve**

"It also matches his ego. Good work reflecting on that Athena," Poseidon complimented.

Zeus glared at his brother.

**and its polished bronze doors shimmered like a hologram, so that from different angles lightning bolts seemed to streak across them.**

**Cabin two was more graceful somehow, with slimmer columns garlanded with pomegranates and flowers. The walls were carved with images of peacocks.**

Hera made one of those conceited smiles.

"You know what? I think peacocks are the stupidest and ugliest animals on the planet," Leo said loudly.

"EXCUSE ME?!" Hera raged. She jumped off her chair and grabbed Leo by his shirt and dragged him out the doors.

"Well then. Let's just ignore that and continue," Katie announced.

**"Zeus and Hera?" I guessed.**

**"Correct," Chiron said.**

**"Their cabins look empty."**

**"Several of the cabins are. That's true. No one ever stays in one or two."**

**Okay. So each cabin had a different god, like a mascot.**

"I've never really thought about it that way before, so I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be offended," Apollo mused.

"Hmm,' Athena pondered.

**Twelve cabins for the twelve Olympians. But why would some be empty?**

**I stopped in front of the first cabin on the left, cabin three.**

Poseidon beamed.

**It wasn't high and mighty like cabin one,**

Zeus smirked at Poseidon, who rolled his eyes at him.

**but long and low and solid. The outer walls were of rough gray stone studded with pieces of seashell and coral, as if the slabs had been hewn straight from the bottom of the ocean floor.**

**I peeked inside the open doorway and Chiron said, "Oh, I wouldn't do that!"**

"Nah, it's cool," Poseidon waved off.

**Before he could pull me back, I caught the salty scent of the interior, like the wind on the shore at Montauk.**

Poseidon raised an eyebrow in an amusing matter.

**The interior walls glowed like abalone. There were six empty bunk beds with silk sheets turned down.**

**But there was no sign anyone had ever slept there. The place felt so sad and lonely, I was glad when Chiron put his hand on my shoulder and said, "Come along, Percy."**

**Most of the other cabins were crowded with campers.**

**Number five was bright red—a real nasty paint job, as if the color had been splashed on with buckets and fists.**

Clarisse looked up to her father's empty throne. She almost missed him.

**The roof was lined with barbed wire. A stuffed wild boar's head hung over the doorway, and its eyes seemed to follow me. Inside I could see a bunch of mean-looking kids, both girls and boys, arm wrestling and arguing with each other while rock music blared.**

**The loudest was a girl maybe thirteen or fourteen. She wore a size XXXL CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-shirt under a camouflage jacket. She zeroed in on me and gave me an evil sneer. She reminded me of Nancy Bobofit, though the camper girl was much bigger and tougher looking,**

Clarisse clicked her tongue.

**and her hair was long and stringy, and brown instead of red.**

**I kept walking, trying to stay clear of Chiron's hooves. "We haven't seen any other centaurs," I observed.**

**"No," said Chiron sadly. "My kinsmen are a wild and barbaric folk,**

**I'm afraid. You might encounter them in the wilderness, or at major sporting events. But you won't see any here."**

**"You said your name was Chiron. Are you really ..."**

**He smiled down at me.**_**"The **_**Chiron from the stories? Trainer of Hercules and all that? Yes, Percy, I am."**

**"But, shouldn't you be dead?"**

"That's not very polite," Annabeth chastised.

**Chiron paused, as if the question intrigued him. "I honestly don't know about **_**should **_**be. The truth is, I **_**can't **_**be dead.** **You see, eons ago the gods granted my wish. I could continue the work I loved. I could be a teacher of heroes as long as humanity needed me. I gained much from that wish ... and I gave up much. But I'm still here, so I can only assume I'm still needed."**

"Doesn't it get boring?" Travis asked.

"Doesn't what get boring?" Athena inquired back.

"Living eternally."

Athena raised a brow. She wouldn't expect a question like this, coming from Travis. "Well, not really, because you humans have, I daresay, been our entertainment. We will never get bored as long as there's Humans left on the earth."

"What about when we all die?"

". . . Even I must admit that that time is coming rather quickly when all humans will be wiped from the Earth. And when that time comes, we, the gods of Olympus, will fade as well, because there won't be anyone to remember us."

"One more question."

"Go on."

"How do you think we're all going to die?"

"Well-"

Apollo shot Athena a look that signaled that she should stop talking now.

"-This is a subject we don't really like to go into, Travis."

". . . "

"What's up with all the questions?"

"Just. . . curious."

**I thought about being a teacher for three thousand years. It wouldn't have made my Top Ten Things to Wish For list.**

**"Doesn't it ever get boring?"**

Apollo glanced at Travis. A few moments earlier, Athena had almost revealed Apollo's deepest secr-

**"No, no," he said. "Horribly depressing, at times, but never boring."**

**"Why depressing?"**

**Chiron seemed to turn hard of hearing again.**

**"Oh, look," he said. "Annabeth is waiting for us."**

**The blonde girl** **I'd met at the Big House was reading a book in front of the last cabin on the left, number eleven.**

"I've got a name, too."

**When we reached her, she looked me over critically, like she was still thinking about how much I drooled.**

"Or just checking you out," Leo raised his eyebrows. He received a punch in the shoulder from Annabeth.

**I tried to see what she was reading, but I couldn't make out the title. I thought my dyslexia was acting up. Then I realized the title wasn't even English. The letters looked Greek to me. I mean, literally Greek.**

**There were pictures of temples and statues and different kinds of columns, like those in an architecture book.**

**"Annabeth," Chiron said, "I have masters' archery class at noon. Would you take Percy from here?"**

**"Yes, sir."**

**"Cabin eleven," Chiron told me, gesturing toward the doorway. "Make yourself at home."**

Hermes and Conner beamed.

**Out of all the cabins, eleven looked the most like a regular old summer camp cabin, with the emphasis on **_**old.**_

"Aren't we feeling rude today," Hermes supposed.

**The threshold was worn down, the brown paint peeling. Over the doorway was one of those doctor's symbols, a winged pole with two snakes wrapped around it. What did they call it...?**

"A caduceus, " Travis rolled his eyes.

**A caduceus.**

**Inside, it was packed with people, both boys and girls, way more than the number of bunk beds. Sleeping bags were spread all over on the floor. It looked like a gym where the Red Cross had set up an evacuation center.**

**Chiron didn't go in. The door was too low for him. But when the campers saw him they all stood and bowed respectfully.**

**"Well, then," Chiron said. "Good luck, Percy. I'll see you at dinner."**

**He galloped away toward the archery range.**

**I stood in the doorway, looking at the kids. They weren't bowing anymore. They were staring at me, sizing me up. I knew this routine. I'd gone through it at enough schools.**

**"Well?" Annabeth prompted. "Go on."**

**So naturally I tripped coming in the door and made a total fool of myself.**

"Nice intro," Athena scoffed.

**There were some snickers from the campers, but none of them said anything.**

**Annabeth announced, "Percy Jackson, meet cabin eleven."**

**"Regular or undetermined?" somebody asked.**

**I didn't know what to say, but Annabeth said, "Undetermined."**

**Everybody groaned.**

**A guy who was a little older than the rest came forward.**

**"Now, now, campers. That's what we're here for. Welcome, Percy. You can have that spot on the floor, right over there."**

Thalia glanced at Annabeth who was as stoic as ever.

**The guy was about nineteen, and he looked pretty cool. He was tall and muscular, with short-cropped sandy hair and a friendly smile.**

"Extremely friendly, that guy was," Connor mentioned.

**He wore an orange tank top, cutoffs, sandals, and a leather necklace with five different-colored clay beads. The only thing unsettling about his appearance was a thick white scar that ran from just beneath his right eye to his jaw, like an old knife slash.**

**"This is Luke," Annabeth said, and her voice sounded different somehow. I glanced over and could've sworn she was blushing.**

Annabeth rolled her eyes at the thought of her younger self crushing on Luke. Aphrodite raised a questioning eyebrow at her, as if she had read her mind. (Which she probably did) Piper caught the little scene that was going on.

"Mom. . ." Piper scolded.

**She saw me looking, and her expression hardened again. "He's your counselor, for now."**

**"For now?" I asked.**

**"You're undetermined," Luke explained patiently. "They don't know what cabin to put you in, so you're here. Cabin eleven takes all newcomers, all visitors. Naturally, we would. Hermes, our patron, is the god of travelers."**

**I looked at the tiny section of floor they'd given me. I had nothing to put there to mark it as my own, no luggage, no clothes, no sleeping bag. Just the Minotaur's horn. I thought about setting that down, but then I remembered that Hermes was also the god of thieves. I looked around at the campers' faces, some sullen and suspicious, some grinning stupidly,** **some eyeing me as if they were waiting for a chance to pick my pockets.**

"Can't say that we weren't," Connor gave a sideways smile.

**"How long will I be here?" I asked.**

**"Good question," Luke said. "Until you're **

"A burrito!"

**determined."**

**"How long will that take?"**

**The campers all laughed.**

**"Come on," Annabeth told me. "I'll show you the volleyball court."**

**"I've already seen it."**

"Just go, dummy," Thalia urged.

**"Come on." She grabbed my wrist and dragged me outside. I could hear the kids of cabin eleven laughing behind me.**

**When we were a few feet away, Annabeth said, "Jackson, you have to do better than that."**

**"What?"**

**She rolled her eyes and mumbled under her breath, "I can't believe I thought you were the one."**

"Not the way I meant it to come out," Annabeth muttered.

**"What's your problem?" I was getting angry now. "All I know is, I killed some bull guy—"**

**"Don't talk like that!" Annabeth told me. "You know how many kids at this camp wish they'd had your chance?"**

**"To get killed?"**

**"To fight the Minotaur! What do you think we train for?"**

**I shook my head. "Look, if the thing I fought really was **_**the **_**Minotaur, the same one in the stories ..."**

**"Yes."**

**"Then there's only one."**

**"Yes."**

**"And he died, like, a gajillion years ago, right?**

**Theseus killed him in the labyrinth. So ..."**

**"Mo-**

"Burritos!"

**don't die, Percy. They can be killed. But they don't die."**

"Who keeps saying 'burritos'?" Athena questioned, clearly annoyed. She scanned the group. No one answered. "If it wasn't you guys, then who was it?"

Someone cleared his throat. Someone who sounded like he was deeply underground…

"Kronos, do you want me to come down there and mess you up?" Athena threatened.

"No, not again."

"Then shut your hole!"

**"Oh, thanks. That clears it up."**

**"They don't have souls, like you and me.**

"I'm pretty sure burritos have souls," Kronos muttered.

**You can dispel them for a while, maybe even for a whole lifetime if you're lucky.** **But they are primal forces. Chiron calls them arche types. Eventually, they re-form."**

**I thought about Mrs. Dodds. "You mean if I killed one, accidentally, with a sword—"**

**"The Fur ... I mean, your math teacher. That's right. She's still out there. You just made her very, very mad."**

**"How did you know about Mrs. Dodds?"**

**"You talk in your sleep."**

**"You almost called her something. A Fury? They're Hades' torturers, right?"**

"I wouldn't say 'torturers' per se," Hades reasoned, "more like. . . entertainers. Yeah, entertainers."

**Annabeth glanced nervously at the ground, as if she expected it to open up and swallow her.**

**"You shouldn't call them by name, even here. We call them the Kindly Ones, if we have to speak of them at all."**

**"Look, is there anything we **_**can **_**say without it thundering?"**

"What if, whenever it thunders, it's actually just Zeus fart-" Connor was interrupted by a flushed Zeus.

"The world may never know."

**I sounded whiny,** **even to myself, but right then I didn't care. "Why do I have to stay in cabin eleven, anyway? Why is everybody so crowded together? There are plenty of empty bunks right over there."**

**I pointed to the first few cabins, and Annabeth turned pale. "You don't just choose a cabin, Percy. It depends on who your parents are. Or... your parent."**

**She stared at me, waiting for me to get it.**

"Sixty-two years later."

**"My mom is Sally Jackson," I said.** **"She works at the candy store in Grand Central Station. At least, she used to."**

**"I'm sorry about your mom, Percy. But that's not what I mean. I'm talking about your other parent. Your dad."**

**"He's dead. I never knew him."**

"Do I look dead to you?" Poseidon inquired.

**Annabeth sighed. Clearly, she'd had this conversation before with other kids.**

"Way too many times, too" she grumbled

**"Your father's not dead, Percy."**

**"How can you say that? You know him?"**

**"No, of course not."**

**"Then how can you say—"**

**"Because I know **_**you.**_ **You wouldn't be here if you weren't one of us."**

**"You don't know anything about me."**

**"No?" She raised an eyebrow. "I bet you moved around from school to school. I bet you were kicked out of a lot of them."**

**"How—"**

**"Diagnosed with dyslexia. Probably ADHD, too."**

**I tried to swallow my **

"Burrito!"

"Okay, I have to give you that one. That was pretty good," Athena told Kronos.

**embarrassment. "What does that have to do with anything?"**

**"Taken together, it's almost a sure sign. The letters float off the page when you read, right?**

**That's because your mind is hardwired for ancient Greek.**

**And the ADHD—you're impulsive, can't sit still in the classroom. That's your battle field reflexes. In a real fight, they'd keep you alive. As for the attention problems, that's because you see too much, Percy, not too little.** **Your senses are better than a regular mortal's. Of course the teachers want you medicated. Most of them are **

"Burritos!"

**monsters. They don't want you seeing them for what they are."**

**"You sound like ... you went through the same thing?"**

**"Most of the kids here did. If you weren't like us, you couldn't have survived the Minotaur, much less the ambrosia and nectar."**

**"Ambrosia and nectar?"**

**"The food and drink we were giving you to make you better. That stuff would've killed a normal kid. It would've turned your blood to fire and your bones to sand and you'd be dead. Face it. You're a **

"Wizard, Harry." (This is a pretty obvious reference. Tell me where its from In your review.)

**half-blood."**

**A half-blood.**

**I was reeling with so many questions**.

**I didn't know where to start.**

**Then a husky voice yelled, "Well! A newbie!"**

"Oh look it's Miss Toilet Gurgler," Conner smirked.

"Say that one more time and I'll make sure you never say another word in your life," Clarisse glared. Connor gulped.

**I looked over. The big girl from the ugly red cabin was sauntering toward us.**

**She had three other girls behind her, all big and ugly and mean looking like her, all wearing camo jackets.**

**"Clarisse," Annabeth sighed. "Why don't you go polish your spear or something?"**

**"Sure, Miss Princess," the big girl said. "So I can run you through with it Friday night."**

_**''Erre es korakas!"**_ **Annabeth said, which I somehow under stood was Greek for 'Go to the crows!' though I had a feeling it was a worse curse than it sounded.**

**"You don't stand a chance."**

**"We'll pulverize you," Clarisse said, but her eye twitched. Perhaps she wasn't sure she could follow through on the threat.**

"As if," Clarisse scoffed.

**She turned toward me. "Who's this little runt?"**

**"Percy Jackson," Annabeth said, "meet Clarisse, Daughter of Ares."**

**I blinked. "Like ... the war god?"**

**Clarisse sneered. "You got a problem with that?"**

**"No," I said, recovering my **

"Burrito!"

**wits. "It explains the bad smell."**

**Clarisse growled. "We got an initiation ceremony for newbies, Prissy."**

**"Percy."**

"Same thing," Clarisse grinned.

**"Whatever. Come on, I'll show you."**

**"Clarisse—" Annabeth tried to say.**

**"Stay out of it, wise girl."**

"What! I thought Percy started it," Katie turned to Clarisse.

"Breaking news: He didn't," Annabeth interrupted.

**Annabeth looked pained,** **but she did stay out of it, and I didn't really want her help.**

**I was the new kid. I had to earn my own rep.**

"Oookay, tough guy," Hades joked.

**I handed Annabeth my minotaur horn and got ready to fight, but before I knew it, Clarisse had me by the neck and was dragging me toward a cinder-block building that I knew immediately was the bathroom.**

**I was kicking and punching. I'd been in plenty of fights before, but this big girl Clarisse had hands like iron.**

"Actually its more like steel, but whatevs," Clarisse corrected.

"Don't get cocky, now," Nico told her. Clarisse rolled her eyes.

"Just saying," Nico tried.

**She dragged me into the girls' bathroom. There was a line of toilets on one side and a line of shower stalls down the other. It smelled just like any public bathroom, and I was thinking—as much as I **_**could **_**think with Clarisse ripping my hair out—that if this place belonged to the gods, they should've been able to afford classier johns.**

"Sorry, had to cut it out of the budget," said Dionysus.

**Clarisse's friends were all laughing, and I was trying to find the strength I'd used to fight the Minotaur, but it just wasn't there.**

**"Like he's 'Big Three' material," Clarisse said as she pushed me toward one of the toilets.**

**"Yeah, right. Minotaur probably fell over laughing, he was so stupid looking."**

Dionysus chuckled.

**Her friends snickered. Annabeth stood in the corner, watching through her fingers.**

The said girl cleared her throat as if nothing happened.

**Clarisse bent me over on my knees and started pushing my head toward the toilet bowl.** **It reeked like rusted pipes and**

"Burritos!"

**, well, like what goes into toilets.**

"You mean, p-"

"Yes Connor, that," Katie interrupted.

**I strained to keep my head up. I was looking at the scummy water, thinking, I will not go into that. I won't.** **Then something happened. I felt a tug in the pit of my stomach.**

**I heard the plumbing rumble, the pipes shudder. Clarisse's grip on my hair loosened. Water shot out of the toilet, making an arc straight over my head, and the next thing I knew, I was sprawled on the bathroom tiles with Clarisse screaming behind me.**

The whole lot chuckled.

"Toilet water gurgler," Connor whispered under the noise. This didn't go unnoticed by Clarisse.

"Why you little-" She got up and grabbed the front of Connor's shirt with her other fist raised. Travis came to his brother's aid, but was too late. Clarisse's fist was already centimeters from Connor's nose. Suddenly, something flashed in front of Connors face and hit Clarisse's fist, knocking it away. It was a book, a dictionary. When the dictionary landed, its pages flipped to the B's. In red marker, the word 'Bookworm' was circled. All eyes focused to where the book was thrown from. There was someone making weird handshakes with Athena, Apollo, and Artemis. Without warning the person jumped out through the window. (I guess now it's a trademark that all may cameo people have to jump through the window when they leave :) )

"One of yours?" Poseidon asked Athena.

"Yep."

"Whoever that was just saved me," Connor gasped.

"For now, punk," Clarisse growled.

**I turned just as water blasted out of the toilet again, hitting Clarisse straight in the face so hard it pushed her down onto her butt.**

**The water stayed on her like the spray from a fire hose, pushing her backward into a shower stall.**

**She struggled, gasping, and her friends started coming toward her.** **But then the other toilets exploded, too, and six more streams of toilet water blasted them back.**

"Overkill, Percy," Apollo chuckled.

**The showers acted up, too, and together all the fixtures sprayed the camouflage girls right out of the bathroom, spinning them around like pieces of garbage being washed away.** **As soon as they were out the door, I felt the tug in my gut lessen, and the water shut off as quickly as it had started.**

**The entire bathroom was flooded. Annabeth hadn't been spared.**

Annabeth hated that day.

**She was dripping wet, but she hadn't been pushed out the door. She was standing in exactly the same place, staring at me in shock.** **I looked down and realized I was sitting in the only dry spot in the whole room.**

**There was a circle of dry floor around me. I didn't have one drop of water on my clothes. Nothing.**

**I stood up, my legs shaky.**

**Annabeth said, "How did you ..."**

**"I don't know."**

**We walked to the door. Outside, Clarisse and her friends were sprawled in the mud, and a bunch of other campers had gathered around to gawk. Clarisse's hair was flattened across her face. Her camouflage jacket was sopping and she smelled like sewage.**

**She gave me a look of absolute hatred. "You are dead, new boy. You are totally dead."**

**I probably should have let it go, but I said, "You want to gargle with toilet water again, Clarisse? Close your mouth."**

"The beginning of a beautiful friendship," Nico chuckled.

**Her friends had to hold her back. They dragged her toward cabin five, while the other campers made way to avoid her flailing feet.**

**Annabeth stared at me. I couldn't tell whether she was just grossed out or angry at me for dousing her.**

**"What?" I demanded. "What are you thinking?"**

**"I'm thinking," She said, "That I want you on my team for capture the flag."**

****"Yep, that's all," Katie announced.

**Hey, I'm back. I'm guessing you've been dying to get another chapter. Nah, you guys probably didn't even notice that the story was on pause. I will be posting the next chapter soon. Like really soon, 'cause I know how inconvenient that was for you.**

**Question Time: What was your imaginary friend's name? Don't lie to me, I know you had one. **


	14. Wolf Creek

**Chapter Thirteen**

**Okay, it looks like we have a line on the whole cameo thing. a1993 is going first (*wink*). Then there goes artemis098, and by the way, arty, I don't think I'm going to enjoy being a bear, so that means I'll have to . . . ahem. Lastly is WhiteRose. I laughed at your review, you must have a huge heart :D**

**To Guest: I did? Where? I don't remember putting any in there, but you might be right. As for adding more, I can try, but don't expect them to be holding hands and smooching at the end of this story.**

**My response: In kindergarten I had an imaginary friend named Wrench. He could fix anything because he had a robotic hand. Don't judge me.**

**You guys have been dying to get this chapter and I've been dying to write and present it. Enjoy! Warning: There are some rather brutal deaths in this chapter.**

_The wolves glared at Percy with extreme hatred. They both charged him. There was little that Percy could do to stop two furious wolves. They sunk their teeth into each of Percy's arms. Emma screamed. Dark red liquid painted the wolves' mouths. They began to shake their heads vigorously; trying to tear off Percy's arms. The blood drenched his shirt and dyed the ground red. Through Percy's eyes, all he could see was the sky. His vision slowly turned darker and the sky he was under turned from blue to grey. Now he couldn't see at all. All he could hear was the sound of Emma screaming. And even that started to diminish to a total silence. The strange thing is that it wasn't eerie. It was tranquil._

The two wolves bit further into Percy's arms. Their jagged teeth sunk straight to the bone. They kept adding more pressure in each passing second. Emma was screaming in fear and throwing small rocks at the wolves to get them off Percy. The attempt was futile. Suddenly a loud snapping sound filled the air. Another one followed soon after. The wolves released Percy's arms. There were large flesh wounds on each of his arms, sticking out from the severely torn flesh were his bones, obviously snapped in two.

His dead, bloody body rolled down the slope, smearing blood onto the dirt and grass. The two wolves now turned to Emma. Their blood caked muzzles growled at the little girl. She stood frozen in fear and watched as they advanced slowly. It was over for her. She knew it. The two wolves knew it. They lunged at her, aiming their jaws at her neck-

Percy shook his head, waking from his subconscious daydream. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Emma run out into the tall grass. He turned to face the two growling wolves. The first one charged him. The wolf's force knocked him on the ground. It climbed on top of him, snapping its jaws at his face. Percy held its jaws and closed them shut. He rolled to the side so that he was on top of it and punched the beast in the throat. Not a second after, Percy jumped into the tall grass chasing after Emma.

The second wolf didn't bother to chase after Percy. It went to go attend to its fallen team mate. The wolf barked in frustration at its unresponsive partner. It soon gave up trying, stuck its muzzle in the air and howled for the rest of the pack. Revenge was on the way.

Percy searched franticly for Emma. He knew not to shout her name in fear of the second wolf, so he whispered. He stopped at a large oak tree to catch his breath. He was breathing heavily. Almost too deeply. His breath sounded over lapped. He closed his mouth to realize that someone else was breathing intensely as well. Right behind him, on the other side of the oak's trunk. He cautiously peered around the trunk to see a pale looking Emma. He exhaled in relief.

"There you are," He stood in front of her.

"Percy!" She shouted in joy, hugging him tightly.

"Shh! The wolves are still here. Listen to me," Percy explained, "I'm gonna give you a boost and I want you to climb onto that branch right now."

A chorus of howls sounded not too far away.

"Their almost here! Step on my hand, I'll give you a boost."

She hesitated. "But what about you?"

"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. Please hurry!"

She made up her mind and stepped on Percy's hand. He lifted her up to the nearest branch and watched her climb. "Atta girl."

She climbed onto a thick sturdy branch. He was amazed at her agility, but then again she was Apollo spawn.

The sound of barks and growls grew closer. Percy blew Emma a kiss, "I'll be fine," He reassured.

The wolf pack finally stepped into vision. Percy counted seven in all. He cursed. Leading the pack was a very large black furred wolf. His yellow eyes glared in hatred. He stopped abruptly as the rest of the pack surrounded the tree. There was no way he could defend against seven blood thirsty wolves. It would be much easier if they were monster wolves because they could die by sword. He wished he was in the tree with Emma. Suddenly, it hit him. The lake. The lake right in front of the cave where Catherine is. He could make it easily. Easily, without seven wolves blocking him. He had to somehow make it past them and towards the lake. But even if he did make it past them, they would catch up and intercept him. He couldn't outrun the tree nymphs back at camp much less a wolf.

It was worth a shot.

Without turning his attention away from the wolves, he spoke, "No matter what happens, don't leave this tree."

"Don't let them get you", Emma replied.

"_Any last words?"_ he mentally asked himself. In his head, he apologized to all his loved ones, even Clarisse.

He put a brave smile on. "Let's do this."

Percy sprinted to the left, towards the lake. The wolf guarding this direction charged him. The rest began to sprint towards him. Percy's instincts kicked in. He launched himself forwards into the air and soared over the snapping wolf. He hit the ground and sprinted towards the lake with seven furious wolves behind him. He remembered the day when he was learning how to foot race with the nymphs. His instructor. What was her name? Asp something. Asper, yes, it was Asper. He remembered what she had told him. _"Chest straight, don't lean forwards. Arms, use your arms to gain momentum. Feet, don't use your whole sole to push off; metatarsal to phalange only."_

"_Gods, she was so annoying,"_ Percy thought.

He was approaching the lake at top speed. The fastest wolf was only two feet away and gaining.He suddenly felt a strong pull backwards. The wolf had bit his shirt and was pulling him back. He pushed himself forwards. A tearing sound echoed through the air. The shirt was ripped off of him. Oops, that was the 'Save the Snowy Owls' t-shirt that Annabeth gave him a couple months ago.

"_At least I can look sexy while I get eaten alive," He thought._

The lake was just meters away. The wolves were gaining. Percy smiled as he finally arrived at his destination and dove into the water. The wolves didn't chase him in. Percy kept swimming until he got to the very bottom. The tables had now turned. He made the water jet him upwards. He soared up through the surface and high into the air. The wolves craned their necks to gaze at the boy who was very high up in the sky. As gravity pulled Percy downwards he willed the entire lake to freeze solid.

He changed position so that he could land on his feet. The ice rumbled as he made contact with the ground. He faced the wolves, grinning at them. The black one licked his lips and howled. The other six wolves charged Percy. Percy jabbed both his hands in the ice. As the half dozen wolves charged him, he pulled his hands out. Both his hands were covered in chunks of Ice shaped as long jagged icicles. His hands were now ice swords. He sprinted towards the pack with his icicle hands dragging along the frozen lake. As he approached the first one, he launched himself straight up, raised his icicles up and swung them downwards onto the wolf's back. The jagged ice cut through its fur and flesh. The wolf whimpered and collapsed. He kicked the dead wolf aside and smirked at the rest.

The second wolf lunged at his right arm, but Percy sidestepped and the wolf slid straight past him. The third one jumped forwards with its muzzle barking and growling. He could see it coming as if time were moving in slow motion. He ducked and stabbed the wolf's underside with his left icicle and used the other one other one to bring the wolf back to the ground. Two wolves dead, five yet to go. The wolf that he had sidestepped, came running back for a secondary attempt. Percy willed the water under the ice to escape the surface of the ice and jet the wolf high up in the air. The pressure of the water was so powerful that the wolf turned into a grey dot in the sky from perspective.

Percy's hand icicles melted off his hands. Wolves number four and five charged him. They ran side by side. It was almost beautiful despite the fact that their eyes aimed to kill. They dove at him. Percy put one his hands on each of the wolves heads and pushed downwards to the ice. He kept pushing down on their skulls. The ice, giving him superhuman strength, he added more pressure. Satisfaction would come only from the cracking sound of their skulls. The wolves thrashed around, whimpering and whining. Blood trickled from their mouths. Percy pushed harder. The sixth and the black wolves just watched the scene. He kept pushing down harder.

Harder.

Harder.

Harder.

Collapse.

The wolves stopped thrashing.

Percy stood up and shook his hands get the blood off. The sixth wolf sprinted at him furiously. There was a whooshing sound in the air. She approached further and faster. The whooshing sound became louder. The whooshing was like the sound a bomb makes when its plummeting towards earth. The she-wolf was just meters away. Percy looked up at the noise. Three words: wolf number two. The earthbound wolf crashed into wolf number six. The impact broke the ice and they sank in the water with a massive water explosion. Just one left. The black furred one. Both Percy and the wolf knew the game had ended. Percy willed the water under the ice to form into a large sphere of liquid. The liquid sphere engulfed the wolf. He watched it thrash and drown in the water sphere. Percy then willed the water sphere to freeze solid.

The wolf in the ice sphere froze. If this was France, they'd call it art. Percy willed the ice sphere to sink to the bottom of the lake. The ice on the surface turned back to water. Percy stared at the lake. Wolf Creek, he named it. Named after the frozen ball of ice containing a wolf at the bottom of the lake.

Percy ran back to the oak where Emma was. She was still on the branch gazing at the trees around her.

"Guess who?" Percy called. She turned her head. Her eyes lit up.

"Percy!" Emma jumped off the branch and onto Percy. They both fell down because Percy couldn't hold her; he was still worn out from the Wolf Creek Incident. Emma giggled and squeezed Percy.

"Did you get 'em all?" She asked.

"It wasn't easy, but yeah. I did," He smiled at her.

"How'd you do it?"

"I'll tell you the story on the way back to the cave. We have to go find my backpack."

"Its right there," Emma pointed at the base of the tree.

Percy raised an eyebrow. "I'm pretty sure that wasn't there when I left."

"I don't know how it got there," She tried to pull a straight face.

"Did you leave the tree after I specifically told you not to?"

". . . Maybe."

"Hmm. Rebellious. I like you. C'mon, let's go back to the cave."

Percy told her how he defeated the wolves on the way back. She was mesmerized by the fact that there was a frozen wolf at the bottom of Wolf Creek. Percy promised her that they'd go see it before they left. Percy enjoyed talking to a little kid. It felt as if nothing bad could go wrong for once.

**Hey guys. I haven't updated in such a long time. I mean yesterday feels like it was a year ago. See? I didn't kill Percy. You guys are cray, I wouldn't kill Percy in the first few chapters, I'd kill him in the next few- ahem, moving on. Fall is on the way! Its my favorite season. Do you guys like this story? Just wondering. By the way, to days question is gonna be SUPER hard. Here it is:**

**Question Time: Do you like chicken?**

**See ya next week! Happy Fall!**


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